A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island
by Skullbank
Summary: Life has improved on Ant Island in the many seasons following the grasshoppers' defeat. Flik and Atta's daughters, Sinny and Lily, however, take their good fortune and each other for granted. But, when Lily disappears, Sinny sets out to save her - to do so she'll have to survive life in a foreign colony quite unlike her own, and a tyrannical queen with bigger plans for all of them.
1. Chapter 1

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 1**

**●•●**

Sinny pushed the boy ant in front of her aside, ignoring his outraged cries. She apologized briefly, but she was too excited to care – her class's annual tour of the colony's origin murals was her absolute _favorite_ event. Her sister Lily, who was a constant and very pink presence on the edge of her vision, sighed in disgust at Sinny's behavior and continued looking bored.

"They're just some dumb drawings, Sinny, do you really have to freak out about them?"

"They're not dumb," Sinny protested over her shoulder. "And, yes, I do have to freak out."

The murals spanned a good length of the nest's spiral center root, beginning with the story of their ancestors' arrival on the island – basic drawings of ants on crude leaf-boats, braving the waters – through an outline of historic events, most recently up to the colony reasserting its independence from the grasshopper menace. Curiously, any indication of how the colony became oppressed in the first place was missing; when Sinny voiced this anomaly in the past, she'd only been hushed or out-right ignored, so she stopped asking.

Because the group consisted of upper grade students, their teacher, Mr. Linseed, only gave them a brief review of the murals, mainly asking questions to see how much the students remembered. When they came to the colony's construction of the Bird, Sinny raised her hand as high as she possibly could – Mr. Linseed seemed to keep her in suspense for a moment, before finally pointing to her.

"Yes, Sinny," he said, "and what happened next?"

The students around her tittered quietly, as though her name was some kind of joke, but Sinny ignored them.

"When the grasshoppers arrived on the island, Flik and Princess Dot launched the Bird, and Hopper and his grasshopper gang were fooled by it, at first; but, then it caught on fire and crashed-"

"The _short_ version," Lily hissed in her ear.

"And-and, uh, then the grasshoppers flew away," Sinny finished.

"Forever ridding our colony of their injustice," said Mr. Linseed. "This is why you've all grown up in a society of peace and prosperity. Now, when we get back to class, I want everyone to write fifty characters on how the colony has improved since the grasshoppers were banished."

The students groaned in unison at the suggestion, and reluctantly began to follow their teacher back up the spiral root towards the classroom levels. Sinny lingered for a moment in front of the second to last mural, where an ant representing Flik was overseeing the Bird's construction. More than anything, she wanted her own depiction on the root, of something great she did for the colony – just like her dad. She put her hand over the carving of Flik, briefly, before rushing after her class.

**●•●**

Backpack slung over her shoulder, Sinny ran head first into the workshop, only to be hit by a cloud of dust. She jerked back and coughed, waving at the air around her.

"Dad!" she called. She couldn't quite make out anything in the gloom, besides the glow of a few mushrooms and Flik's artificial lighting hanging from the ceiling.

"Sinny?" Flik finally answered, his voice muffled. "Uh, h-hold on, honey, you better wait out-"

Something fell over and crashed to the floor; a shiny disk of some sort, balancing on its edge, rolled out of the dust and spun circles around Sinny's feet before finally falling to one side, clanging to a stop. When she looked up, her dad had appeared out of the gloom, wearing large goggles and a woven leaf mask over his mouth; he also held a slightly menacing tool in one hand. A coating of dust had dulled his exoskeleton to a grey-blue.

"Hey, kiddo, how was school?" Flik asked, pulling the mask down.

"Um, dad, have you considered digging a few more holes for ventilation?" said Sinny, looking behind Flik at the still lingering cloud. Flik glanced back at his workshop.

"Oh, uh, that – that's nothing to worry about, I was just doing a little sawing and, uh, it's going to kick up some dust-"

Sinny went over to a rope hanging nearby and pulled it, activating the fans. The haze slowly began to filter out. "Next time, turn the fans on _before_ you saw," said Sinny, swinging her backpack onto the nearest workbench.

"Right, yeah, I tend to forget about those." He gave his daughter a knowing smile as she grabbed her own pair of goggles hanging on the wall; she was immediately drawn to what he'd been working on. "So: school."

"What about it?" Sinny asked, as she fished around for tools and turned on extra work lights.

"You're home a little early, aren't you?"

"We went to see the mural today, so Mr. Linseed let us skip our last lesson." She held up the wooden pipe her father had been working on, getting a better look at it. "I don't think these things are water-tight, dad."

"I know," he sighed, taking the pipe from her and inspecting it himself. "I thought reinforcing the seals would help, but it just doesn't seem to do much."

"The wood needs a coating," said Sinny. "I just _know_ it does."

"Yeah, but, what kind?" Flik looked around at the various buckets lining the walls of his workshop, each one filled with different liquids and mixes of solutions. They were in an order, from least sticky to most, although one wouldn't know it from looking at them. "I'm ready to throw these pipes in one of those vats and leave them there-"

"You'll figure it out, and it'll totally be worth it." Sinny took the pipe from her father and set it down before he became too frustrated with it. "Just think, water running anywhere we want it, throughout the entire nest! That would be the coolest thing ever."

"Yeah, well, your mother doesn't think so; her and the council are worried that these pipes will be a disaster and flood the nest. Which, I mean, they _could_, but not if we install them correctly. I think."

"The council's a bunch of worry-warts," said Sinny, crossing her arms in front of her chest and leaning back against the worktable. "They never make any real decisions, they just keep things the same as much as possible."

"Well, you're part of the council, too, Princess," Flik said, flashing her a grin, and Sinny sighed.

"Yeah, barely," she grumbled. "I'm not a _real_ princess, so it doesn't matter."

"Now, don't talk like that." Flik pushed his goggles up and gave his daughter a serious look. "You're as much a princess as your sister is – you know that."

Sinny shrugged. "I don't have wings, I'm not pink-" She held up a finger for each fault. "As far as I've heard, every queen of our colony has had these traits, ever since our ancestors came to this island."

"Maybe there was a queen before we came to this island who was blue and didn't have wings," said Flik. "And, I don't know, maybe these special traits come out in the royal lineage every hundred years or so."

"Yeah, I don't think so, dad," said Sinny. "I think those are the princesses who are sent to work in the tunnels and never spoken of again."

"Well, we considered that," said Flik, and he scratched his chin as though seriously contemplating the idea. "But, your mother thought we'd better keep an eye on you – you'd do too much damage in the tunnels."

"_Dad_," Sinny said, although she smiled despite herself. "Can I go work on my project now?"

"Um, I guess." Flik glanced over at Sinny's corner of the workshop, most of which was covered with leaf-tarps. "Just don't make too much noise – I promised your mother I'd dissuade you from your project."

"No one will ever know," Sinny said, readjusting her goggles with a determined twitch of her antennae.

**●•●**

Flik kicked her out of the workshop after only an hour – far too little time for Sinny's taste. She needed to be out in the fresh air and sunshine, he told her, and socialize with other ants her age. Sinny thought that's what school was for, but she didn't say as much.

The workshop was on the nest's first level, not far from the anthill entrance, although it also had several back exits closer to the tree, for emergencies. Sinny left through the main entrance today, falling in line with the constant streams of ants traveling both up and down the center spiral root. She deftly joined the right hand stream, ducking under the occasional grain carrier, as the path curled up and out of the anthill entrance.

The sky was blue and clear today, with only the occasional white wisp of cloud, and the light was just on the verge of fading – from the top of the anthill, Sinny could see a hint of orange in the sky, off to the west. She hadn't completely missed the day then; it was still bright enough to look up at the clovers and see the leaf veins through their nearly translucent yellow glow.

In the distance, buzz saws were still whirling away, and the worker ants called to each other over the din, mostly to warn of falling stalks. The lateness of the season was apparent from the workers' migration and the harvesters' paths – they typically started on the east end of the island, and worked their way west, while a second group of ants followed behind them and replanted grain where stalks had become too sparse.

Now, the harvesters' were fast approaching the island's western cliffs, and the tree's orange and yellow leaves were beginning to cover the area around the anthill faster than they could be cleared away. Sinny also heard the occasional low buzz of wings, and she looked out to see her sister and Aunt Dot flitting from clover-top to clover-top, perhaps helping the workers from their elevated view, or just watching. From a distance, the two looked very similar; both had the same slender build, pink exoskeleton, curled antennae, and, of course, translucent wings.

Sinny wrung her hands at the visual reminder and began walking down the anthill's slope. Some of the ants she passed by smiled and nodded at her; occasionally someone would greet her by name, or simply her title. More often still, they would look past her or stare at her blankly, acknowledging her not in the least. She did, after all, look like an average worker ant at a glance.

Her mother was occupying her usual spot atop the great rock, the one that was once the base of the offering stone before Sinny's birth, but of which now there was no indication. Queen Atta was deep in conversation with Thorny and Dr. Flora, and Sinny considered veering off into the clovers to avoid being spotted, but they called out to her faster than she could put her idea into action. She smiled at them and waved, until her mother made some annoyed gestures amounting to, 'Yes, come _over_ _here_,' and she hurried to join them at the top of the rock.

"Actually, Sinny had some good ideas-" were the first words she caught as she approached them, and she nearly stopped in her tracks.

"Princess, we were just talking about you," Thorny said, with something close to approval on his gruff countenance. "Those tips you gave us on grain rotation worked like a charm – we're going to have twice as many stalks growing this time next season. Who knew dirt could be so picky about what you plant in it?"

"Well, we live in dirt, we should know _something_ about it," Sinny said good-naturedly, and she felt herself glow a bit when everyone was amused by the comment.

"And here I thought she was crazy when she wanted to take all those dirt samples," said Atta. "I mean, what's there to know about dirt? Boy, was I wrong. What are you working on now, honey? Something about grafting?"

"Oh, uh, I'm just trying to combine grain species a bit, to see if I can make some hybrids," said Sinny, attempting to hand gesture about the idea. "Since, uh, some of the grain species across the river bed are different than those on the island, and I thought it'd be interesting to create some new types. You know, for variety."

During her explanation, Lily and Dot touched down on the rock behind the group, diverting the adults' attention immediately. Dot approached Atta to greet her, while Lily headed for Sinny, although her greeting wasn't as pleasant.

"I didn't see you this afternoon, Sinny," said Lily, with more than a hint of accusation. "You didn't go back to the workshop again, did you?"

"Who, me? Why, uh, why would I do that?" She knew her smile wasn't very convincing, but she wanted the annoyed look in her eyes to be very clear to Lily.

"You know you're not allowed to anymore-"

"_Says who?_"

Atta stepped between her daughters. "All right you two, let's keep the bickering to a minimum," she said, her voice level and pleasant; her queen voice. They wouldn't get the mom voice until later, in private. Atta placed one hand on Sinny's shoulder, gentle but restraining, as she shooed Lily back towards Aunt Dot. Sinny narrowed her eyes at her sister, and got the same look in return, as well as an angry wing twitch. "These two just have such strong personalities," Atta continued for the benefit of Thorny and Dr. Flora, although the older ants still looked worried. "They're always disagreeing about _something_, but they're still friends at the end of the day. Right?"

Sinny and Lily both shrugged and muttered noncommittally – their mother flashed them a look, but continued to smile. "That's my girls," said Atta. "We're getting ready to finish up for the day – how about you two help your aunt with the grain tallies?"

Sinny stiffened at the suggestion; she was rarely asked to help her sister and Aunt with anything resembling royal duties, if only because she couldn't keep up with them without assistance. As she grew older, her mother was willing to be more 'accommodating,' as she put it, and usually let Sinny choose her own duties, to be done alone or with other workers. Atta sensed her daughter's hesitation, or else she read it plainly on Sinny's face, and gave her a little push to get her started following Lily and Dot.

The tallies usually involved lining up the overseers of each harvesting group, taking their numbers for grain collected, and then comparing the numbers with those estimated by the charges down in grain storage. Sinny took her clipboard and tally leaves, and indicated that she was going to start with the closest group of harvesters. She heard one set of wings fly off, but before she could leave she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," said Dot, turning her niece around to face her. "You okay, Sin?"

"Yeah, why?" said Sinny, looking down at her tally sheets. Dot sighed slowly through her mouth for a moment, hands on her hips. Then she beckoned Sinny to follow her through the clovers, as though they were going to start the tallies, but not quite.

"Atta wanted me to talk to you," Dot finally blurted out, and Sinny stopped mid-stride. She tried to reply with either, 'Oh, yeah?' or, 'Please don't,' and it ended up sounding like neither. "She says she hasn't been able to get through to you or Lily," Dot continued. "And I agree, you two have been acting… _weird_." She gave Sinny a Look, and Sinny gave one back, and they continued to glare at each other until Dot broke it off in agitation.

"Why are you talking to _me_ about this?" said Sinny, when Dot didn't continue her lecture. "What about Lily?"

"I already talked to her," said Dot, and she held up a finger to stop Sinny from replying immediately, "and that's between me and her. Just like this is between me and you." Dot crossed her arms in front of her chest and watched Sinny expectantly; Sinny paused to consider the situation, and the torrent of thoughts going through her mind, pacing under the shade of the clovers for a while. She considered abandoning the situation completely by claiming she didn't have any issues, but then she realized her involuntary pacing and clipboard clutching had already admitted she had something to say.

Off in the distance, someone was still revving a single buzz saw.

"You were there," Sinny began, "the first thing Lily says to me is an accusation of what I _shouldn't_ be doing; what does she know about it, anyway? Everything I say she has some snarky remark back to me. I can't talk to her anymore about anything, and she always acts like it's my fault."

"Have you told her?" Dot asked.

"No," said Sinny. "She'll hardly look at me, let alone stand to be in the same room with me for more than two seconds. How am I supposed to talk to her?"

"What if, I don't know, we set up a little session or something, get you two to talk openly-"

"What's the point?" Sinny said. "Anyways, what does it matter if we argue?"

"What does it _matter_ if you two act like children in front of the whole colony?" said Dot, looking outraged. "Maybe because it makes Atta look bad, and it makes me look bad, and it makes the council look bad if this colony's future leadership can't work together. Everyone knows you two hate each other, it's not some big secret. Our colony is about unity, Sinny – and I know you're really good at the whole independent, free-thinking, go-against-the-traditions thing, and that's great, but it only goes so far." Sinny looked down at the ground, just to have something to stare at, and didn't reply. "Atta and I fight sometimes, too," Dot continued. "We always have, but our mother never let it go too far, and for good reason. The colony looks to us; everything we do is for their benefit. It's not about what we want, it's about what's best for them."

Dot made a sweeping gesture that included the anthill, beyond the clovers, where workers milled around after ending their shifts, meeting up with their families and getting ready to go back to the nest. Sinny looked down at her clipboard, and realized she wasn't going to be doing any tallying today.

"It's not like we're going to destroy the 'peace and prosperity' if we don't get along," said Sinny, although she regretted it as soon as she said it.

"You don't understand at all, do you?" Dot replied. "You don't know what life was like before – you never had to grow up with that fear of someone coming to our island and harming a loved one as an example, taking our food, or invading the colony just because they felt like it. You have so much freedom, and you don't care at all. How selfish can you get?"

"_Selfish?"_ said Sinny. "I spend all of my free time helping this colony, building or researching, or in the greenhouse. Everything I do is to benefit everyone else."

"But you're never out here, getting to know your people. How are they supposed to know you care if they never see you? They don't even ask about you anymore, they just assume me or Lily or Atta will be out in the field."

"Of course they do! How am I supposed to do what you three do, when I can't-" But Sinny stopped mid-sentence, realizing what she almost admitted, and she looked away from Dot.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" Dot said, and then took a sharp breath, as though gasping at what she'd just said. Sinny threw her clipboard to the ground, hard, scattering sand, and quickly turned and left. She couldn't get far from Dot, of course, who flew ahead of her, landing directly in front of Sinny. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that-"

"Leave me alone," Sinny said, pushing her aunt aside. Dot backed off, hovering in mid-air as she watched her niece stalk deeper into the clovers.

"Sinny, come back here!" she called. "Don't make me drag you back to the anthill."

"Leave me alone!" Sinny repeated, louder, and continued walking. The buzzing of her aunt's wings grew more distant and soon disappeared; Dot must've flown off. Sinny was relieved that she was being given some space to cool off. She felt stupid and embarrassed, and wanted to find a clover stalk to hide in. Not that that would do much good; Dot was going to tell Atta what happened, and then someone was going to come find her and fly her back to the anthill before nightfall.

If she went back now, maybe she wouldn't be in quite as much trouble, but she couldn't stop walking, and just continued through the stalks. They were glowing a mellow orange now, as was the light, casting long shadows across the ground.

She soon reached the edge of the island, and looked out over the dry river canyon. It was mostly dark now, with just enough of a glow to make out the canyon's gullies. Sinny sat down, hugging her knees to her chest, listening as the night came alive; in the distance, other insects were chirping to one another. Sinny didn't know what it all meant, or who was doing the chirping, but it was another interesting mystery. If all these insects were so near the island during the night, where were they during the day? She rarely saw anyone traveling by the island, except for the occasional sales beetle or passing butterfly who would hardly deign to glance at an ant below.

As she watched the forest of grass across the canyon, she realized something was moving in the shadows. She waited quietly to see if she'd catch a glimpse, although it was probably another roach selling cast-offs, or a haberdasher weevil, but – no, it was someone much smaller.

Sinny leapt to her feet, ran to stick a dewdrop in a rolled up leaf, and then ran back to the cliff edge. She scanned the forest frantically through her telescope, before finding them: yes, it was an ant! They were hard to see at this distance, but when they came out of the shadows, Sinny could tell that they were dark blue, and carrying a walking stick as though they'd been traveling. They didn't look like any ant Sinny had seen around here, did that mean-?

"There you are, young lady."

Sinny dropped her telescope in surprise, and it rolled over the edge, making soft smooshing sounds as it bounced down the cliff side. "Mom!" she cried, turning to find Atta behind her, tapping an annoyed foot. Sinny looked at the ground and hugged herself, suddenly remembering why she was out here in the first place. "Hi."

"You shouldn't run away from your aunt like that," said Atta. "She was just trying to help."

"I know."

"You should go apologize."

"I know."

Atta sighed. "Will you come back to the anthill, now? It's not safe out here, and your father and I want to talk to you." Sinny widened her eyes in terror, so Atta quickly added: "You're not in trouble; it's just a family discussion."

That was still horrifying, but Sinny let out the breath she'd been holding and nodded. Then she turned and looked out over the canyon again, but she couldn't spot the ant she'd seen before.

**●•●**

Author's note: Yes, another Bug's Life sequel fic. However, I promise I've already finished writing it - after some editing, new chapters will be posted once a week.

_A Bug's Life_ is my favorite Pixar movie, and has been since I first saw it in theaters. It's pretty clear by now that it's the forgotten Pixar movie, and the least likely to get a sequel; after half-heartedly playing around with the idea for quite some time, I've finally gotten around to concocting my own idea of the kind of sequel I'd like to see. Hopefully someone else gets a kick out of it.

Also, the 'origin mural' opening borrows heavily from the original opening of _A Bug's Life_ - the 'museum opening,' as seen in the movie's Blu-ray and DVD extras. Although the scene was cut, you can still make out images depicting the colony's history on the root during the movie.


	2. Chapter 2

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 2**

**●•●**

Sinny was asked to wait in her room for a while; it didn't seem like a good sign if there was extensive pre-talk going on.

Her room had once been Aunt Dot's when she was younger, and Sinny still had Dot's pebble collection on one wall and a few figurines, but otherwise it was reminiscent of her father's workshop. One corner had stacks of jars containing a variety of liquids, including mud, nectars, and the occasional pickled specimen; mallets, gears, and spare parts took up another corner; her desk was covered with leaf parchments and quills, all in specific stacks that wouldn't be apparent to anyone else.

Someone had placed a tray of honey-grain clusters on one of the lower, more stable stacks on her desk – worker ants were always making something or other that was vaguely 'for the royal family,' and it got handed out accordingly. However, after taking a bite of one Sinny found she wasn't hungry. The honey was a bit of a delicacy in the colony; they'd only recently opened trade with the closest beehive, after word got around that their colony now had an abundance of agriculture and was willing to exchange.

In the spirit of such exchange, Sinny made a mental note to pass the honey clusters to someone else, and reclined on her bed, trying to remember when she'd eaten last. The grain porridge at breakfast? Was that it? She'd gone to the green house during her school lunch break, after she couldn't stop thinking about some samples she'd forgotten to take the night before, and then she skipped the lines in the cafeteria cell to head to the workshop instead. And now she had a headache, not to mention a sore throat she hadn't exactly been nursing.

She didn't remember dozing off, but Flik shaking her shoulder suddenly woke her. He smiled at her sympathetically and led her to the sitting room, where Atta and Lily were already waiting.

The sitting room was a general cell for the royal family to use, and occasionally for entertaining visitors. Some of the older, retired worker ants had taken to flower and plant arranging, and pieces were brought in to decorate the room every few days. Considering the time of year, most of the pieces incorporated dandelion tuffs, curling vines, reddish-orange leaves, and (relatively) small yellow flowers.

Atta was sitting on a woven leaf and bark chair opposite the couch Lily was occupying. Sinny sat on the edge of the couch farthest from Lily; she couldn't remember the last time she had actually sat next to her sister on purpose. She wondered if all three of them had been in discussion before she was brought in, but Lily looked nervous, despite her flippantly casual body language.

"Your father and I have been discussing the situation," Atta began as Flik took his own seat, "and we think, Sinny, that you should take a break from your work for a while."

Sinny almost stood up in outrage, but instead said, "Wha-but-wha-but-"

"Sorry, kiddo, but it's only for a little while," said Flik. "Besides, you have plenty of other ways to spend your time."

"And, we also think Lily should spend more time sharing her royal duties with Sinny," Atta continued. Now it was Lily's turn to be outraged, and she did actually stand up and exclaim about it.

"But, mom, Sinny obviously doesn't want to and she'll only get in the way-"

"Lily doesn't want to have anything to do with me-" Sinny protested over her sister. They both argued incoherently until Atta stood up and waved her hands in the air.

"Both of you calm down!" Atta shouted, and her daughters froze mid-statement. Flik tried to shrink farther back into his chair until Atta gave him a look that caused him to jump to his feet.

"Girls, we're only trying to ease the tension around here," said Flik. "And, uh-uh, well, we're not being very successful are we?" He chuckled hesitantly, which Atta didn't seem to appreciate. Flik cleared his throat. "So, uh, maybe we should have some one-on-one discussions."

"Because Sinny's so good at those," said Lily, crossing her legs as she sat back down, giving her sister a sideways look. Sinny bared her teeth.

"Alright, Lily, you can wait outside first," Atta said, pointing to the door. Lily huffed and got up, giving the door-leaves a hard shove as she passed through them. She left behind a very awkward silence.

"So, uh, Sinny," said Flik. "Dot told us you were upset…"

"And, we know you're at a point in your life that's very stressful for a young ant," Atta continued. "Especially a young queen ant-"

"I'm _not_ a queen ant," Sinny muttered. Atta and Flik looked at each other.

"No, but, that's okay," said Atta. She and Flik sat down on the couch, one on either side of their daughter.

"Mr. Linseed mentioned you haven't been doing well in class lately," said Flik. "That's not like you. Is something going on?"

Sinny looked down at her hands, not sure what to say.

"I know you've been upset since your father and I separated," said Atta. "Lily has been, too – I just wish the two of you would support each other." Sinny opened her mouth to reply, although she had no clue what she was going to say, when a tall, tannish ant who was part of the queen's guard pushed aside the door.

"Excuse me, your Highness," he said, sounding out of breath. "We have a situation – a foreign ant was caught trying to infiltrate the anthill."

"_What?_" Atta stood up. "Where are they now?"

"We've apprehended him outside the anthill," the guard replied, and looked behind him briefly as though someone was speaking to him beyond the door before turning back to Atta. "How would you like to proceed?"

"Tell the guards to wait – I'll meet them outside." Atta turned back to Flik. "Watch the girls," she said before rushing out the door.

A moment later, Lily was shoved unceremoniously back into the room.

"Now what's going on?" Lily asked, looking put out. "Where's mom going?"

"There's an emergency outside the anthill," Flik explained. "Why don't you two go back to your rooms? I'm going to make sure the royal quarters are secure."

Lily and Sinny looked at each other after their father fled the room, and then they both moved to make for the door, running into one another in the process. They scuffled for a moment before making it out the other side. Silently, they walked down the tunnel towards their chambers, and Sinny waited for Lily to go into her room before turning around to take off back the way they came.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked, popping out of her room in time to grab Sinny by the arm.

"No where!" Sinny said, trying to pull away.

"Sinny, don't you dare," Lily warned. Sinny pulled harder and broke free of her sister's grasp, taking off down the tunnel. "You're going to get us in trouble!" Lily called after her and followed in pursuit.

Sinny ducked through a secondary tunnel, dodging the guards at the main entrance of the royal chambers. The narrow secondary tunnel was meant to be an emergency escape, and went up nearly 90 degrees before it straightened to a plateau; Sinny had to crawl on her hands and knees until the escape dumped her out at the main tunnel again. She'd heard Lily crawling behind her, and made sure to keep fleeing as fast as she could.

She nearly stopped in her tracks, however, when another group of guards blocked her access to the main root. She looked around for a moment, found a discarded helmet, put it on, and made her way through the guards; if they didn't look too closely, she blended in pretty well. Sinny was up the root and out of the anthill just as Lily was stopped by the blockade.

Outside, the area around the anthill was grey in the moonlight, and Sinny trotted down the slope tentatively, not quite sure what was happening at the cluster of guards. As she got closer, Sinny could see that her mother was speaking to the captain of the guard, not far from an ant who was on his knees, his arms tied behind his back. Although it was hard to tell in the night's muted colors, Sinny knew this had to be the dark blue ant she'd seen across the canyon. One of the guards was inspecting the foreign ant's walking stick by twirling it around. Sinny fell in line behind the closest guards, who were standing at attention.

"And what if there's more of them?" Sinny heard the captain of the guard say.

"Then we'll post guards at every entrance, just to be sure," Atta replied before turning to the prisoner in front of her. The prisoner kept his head down, but he peeked up now and then at his captors, looking contrite but not especially defeated. "Are there anymore of you?" Atta asked.

"No," he replied. Atta paused to consider this, pacing briefly. The prisoner looked up as she did, scanning the faces of the guards in front of him; he seemed to stop and stare at Sinny when their eyes met, and Sinny pulled the helmet down over her face self-consciously.

"Bring him to the council chamber," Atta decided at length. "I'll call a meeting and try him tonight." The guards scooped up the prisoner and carried him to the anthill in an orderly brigade. Sinny was about to fall in behind them, when Atta suddenly stepped in front of her. "Go back to your room," her mother said, quiet but firmly. Sinny swallowed hard and nodded.

**●•●**

As an extra incentive, Atta had one of the guards escort Sinny back to the royal chambers and into her father's care; luckily, he was more amused than upset.

"Aren't you a little short for a guard?" Flik asked, taking the helmet off of Sinny's head.

"What're they going to do to him?" Sinny asked.

"Him who?" said Flik. "The foreign ant? Imprison him, probably." He gave one of Sinny's antennae a little tweak back into place. "You don't need to worry about it."

"But why?" Sinny asked. "Why do we trade with every other insect without imprisoning them?"

"Sinny, rival ant colonies aren't all that nice. They're more likely to take over our territory than make friends." Flik sighed when Sinny gave him a sad frowny face. "I know it doesn't seem fair, but we have the rule for good reason. Stop looking at me like that."

"I need to go to the council chambers," Sinny insisted. "Please?"

"Don't you think you've gotten into enough trouble for one night, missy?" said Flik.

"No. _Please_ let me go."

"Your mother's going to kill me…" Flik sighed again. "Alright, but you better hurry."

Half the colony was milling outside of the council chamber when Sinny got there – the average worker wasn't usually allowed in the chamber during hearings, but the intruding ant was news enough that everyone wanted a glimpse. Sinny had to shove her way through the throng and crawl under a few guards until she found herself in the center, approaching the council seats under the blue glow of the mushrooms. She could tell when the ants outside noticed her break from the crowd – the tone of their chatter changed, and she caught her name here and there, more as a question than a remark.

Her mother, Dot, Thorny, and Dr. Flora were the only ants currently at the bench, and they were discussing the situation openly with each other, albeit it in semi-hushed tones. The foreign ant stood before them, hands still tied behind his back, not reacting to the situation much at all.

Sinny approached cautiously, deciding she wasn't as confident about this idea as she had been a few minutes ago. Slowly, some of the ants at the bench noticed her and stared, saucer-eyed, before really recognizing her. Atta was still in conversation with Dot, and Dr. Flora tapped the queen's arm rapidly for a moment. Atta turned, mouthing, '_What?_' before noticing her daughter.

"Sinny!" said Atta, "What're you-"

"Why is this happening?" Sinny began, trying to muster as much strength into her voice as she could. Disconcertedly, the crowd began to hush when she spoke up. "What has he done?"

"He's an intruder," said Atta. "He could lead other ants here. Now, Sinny, please, you don't have permission to be here-"

"I'm on the council, too," said Sinny, changing it to a statement at the last second.

"She has a point, you know," said Dr. Flora.

"But, she's, she's not…" Atta sighed in exasperation. "Sinny, I'm not going to ask you again."

Sinny felt her hands shaking, and tried hard to contain them. What had she been thinking? She turned to look at the foreign ant, and he looked back at her, questioningly.

"Have you even asked him why he's here?" Sinny continued, addressing the council again.

"With all due respect, Princess, you have no clue what you're talking about," said Thorny, looking more annoyed at her than usual. "Foreign ants infiltrate other anthills to bring information back to their home colonies - and then they return with soldier ants, to take over the new territory."

"But, I thought that hasn't happened here since before…" began Dot.

"Since before Hopper," said Thorny. The mention of the grasshopper's name had an obtuse effect on the ants outside the chamber – they were startled, in a somber, muted sort of way. "Now that he's gone, other ants think our island's prime territory again."

"Your concern is touching, dear, really," Dr. Flora told Sinny. "But, you better let us handle this."

Sinny opened her mouth a couple of times, but nothing came out – the council stared down at her, disapprovingly, the crowd of ants behind her chattering to themselves, and Sinny suddenly felt very small and alone. She nodded and walked out of the chamber, and the crowd parted around her as she exited. Atleast they didn't seem to hate her attempt – no one shoved her or gave her dirty looks, they just _looked_, and they all seemed as downtrodden as Sinny felt.

When she got back to her chamber, Lily was waiting for her, and bickered at her about any number of things, but she stopped and left Sinny alone when she got no reaction. Sinny lay in her bed all night staring at the ceiling, wondering why she didn't have the guts to demand a voice in the trial. She wasn't fit at all to even have a say. She wondered if she ever would be.

**●•●**

No one bothered her in the morning and, not knowing what the status quo was, she and Lily trudged up to school without exchanging so much as a glance the entire way. Sinny actually had a dozen questions – if Lily had heard anything about the prisoner, where mom and dad were, what was going to happen now – but Sinny kept her mouth shut tight, not willing to start a conversation with her sister, who seemed so unwilling to start one herself.

Sinny kept her head down for most of the lessons, mindlessly thumbing through her notes. Mr. Linseed called on her a few times, during points in the lessons where everyone else was silent, points where Sinny would normally be the only one raising her hand, but she only shrugged, not even recalling what the question had been. So, she wasn't surprised when she was called to Mr. Linseed's desk at the noonday break.

"You feeling alright, Sinny?" Mr. Linseed asked, sorting papers, giving her genuinely concerned glances as he did. She shrugged and nodded at the same time.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." He put the parchments down and gave her a harder, longer look, before fishing a slip out from one of his drawers. He quickly signed it and handed it to her. "Why don't you take this to the med cell, let them have a look at you?"

Surprised, Sinny took the slip and stared at it a moment. He'd simply made a check next to 'ill' and initialed it; Sinny wasn't sure what she'd expected it to say. She was about to refuse and give it back, but then she pictured herself sitting at her desk for the rest of the day, miserable and tired, and couldn't stand the idea. She _was_ feeling chilled and shaky, she admitted to herself. So, she agreed, trying not to sound too eager, and grabbed her bag from her desk before heading out of the classroom. Lily was still seated at her desk in the second to last row, on the aisle, and she tapped Sinny's elbow as she passed.

"Hey – Sinny, what's up?" Lily whispered. Sinny waved her slip.

"I've been excused."

"Oh," Lily mouthed, looking between the slip and her sister. Appearing genuinely concerned for a moment, Lily seemed to be contemplating what to say next, but then she shook her head. "Alright, I'll see you later."

Sinny frowned, disappointed at the chilly tone her sister's voice had taken on again.

Finding herself outside the med cell's tunnel, Sinny paused for a moment, wondering if she really wanted to go in or not. It was fairly quiet, with only a lone nurse passing by now and then, carrying supplies. She was about to take a step forward, still watching the tunnel entrance, and nearly ran into Mr. Soil. Sinny squeaked in surprise and almost dropped her bag.

"Princess Sinnia!" said Mr. Soil, looking pleased. "And where are you headed at this hour?"

"Uh…" Sinny thought for a moment, wide-eyed, clutching her bag to her chest. Then she pointed to the med tunnel with the hand still holding her dismissal slip.

"Ah, I see. I didn't mean to suggest you were playing hooky, of course. Oh, no. Did the queen tell you the news, yet, by the way?"

"The… news?" said Sinny.

"It _was_ your idea, I hear – freeing that foreign ant? He seems an amiable enough fellow." Mr. Soil clapped his hands together. "We might even open up a trade with this other colony."

"_What?_ Just like that?"

"I'd thought you'd be pleased," said Mr. Soil, and Sinny realized how horrified she'd sounded.

"It's just so… sudden," said Sinny, shrugging. "Since when does the council make quick decisions like this?" Mr. Soil seemed to take this as a good-natured jab.

"Not often, Princess," he said with a chuckle. "In fact, we're still in deliberations about it-"

"Right now?" said Sinny, and almost headed off right then. "Oh, uh, can I go just take a little peek maybe?"

"I don't see why not," Mr. Soil replied. "But, what about your appointment at the med cell?"

"Uh…" Sinny looked down at her slip, up at the tunnel, and down at her slip again. "I'll have to reschedule. Thanks, Mr. Soil!" She was already heading to the council chamber before he could reply.

Sinny ran all the way, and was huffing and puffing by the time she got there – she paused by the council chamber's entrance, leaning on the wall to catch her breath. It was so quiet inside she thought no one was actually here, but then she caught some light chatter and peeked in. Her mother and Dot were in the chamber, in conversation with the foreign ant. Sinny felt a sudden chill of apprehension, but then realized it was silly – she'd forced her way into the chamber during a trial while being stared at by most of the colony. And she was scared of walking in on three ants? She took a deep breath, steeling her nerve, and quietly padded into the room.

"Helloo…" she said, half-heartedly. She almost walked out again when Dot and Atta stared at her, but she forced a smile on her face, like it was no big deal. "Mr. Soil mentioned the council had made a decision, and I just wanted to stop by and see what was going on."

Atta looked like she was making a mental note to give Mr. Soil a piece of her mind, and exchanged a glance with Dot.

"You remember my daughter: Sinny," Atta said to the foreign ant, who nodded and held out his hand. Sinny shook it, feeling herself blush at how sincere his smile was.

"I remember," he said. "She's the one who stormed in to speak on my behalf."

"Yeah…" said Sinny, dumbly, as she took her hand back and continued to smile at him.

"I just need to borrow her for one second," Atta butted in, taking her daughter by the arm and pulling her aside. Atta paused, looked at Dot and the foreign ant, and then pulled Sinny even further away until she was satisfied. "Sinny, why aren't you in school?"

"I'm on, uh, noon-break."

"Noon-break's been over for ten minutes." Atta crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You can't just cut class whenever you want because you're a princess."

"_Wha-?_ No, mom, that's not…" Sinny sighed, looking up at the ceiling to think for a moment. "I was excused by Mr. Linseed, and then I ran into Mr. Soil so I stopped by here, and I know I shouldn't have, but I really wanted to know what was going on."

"You were excused?" Atta's voice turned cold. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I…" Sinny fished in her bag and pulled out the slip. "Here. I was supposed to go to the med cell." Atta took the slip, examined it, and immediately looked concerned – she felt Sinny's forehead and her own, comparing the temperatures.

"Honey, you're burning up, let me take you to the med cell."

"But, mom-"

"You're delirious and running around the colony with a fever. Now's not the time." Atta put a gentle hand on Sinny's back, leading her to Dot to explain where they were going, and if Dot could handle things from here.

"Mom, I'm not _delirious_," Sinny insisted as they walked back to the med tunnel. "Is everything really fine now? Are you really opening up trade with this other colony?"

"We are, actually," said Atta. "I didn't like the idea at first, but the council took stock in your argument. The colony has a strong bias against outsiders – but, we were also saved by outsiders, not so long ago." She hesitated. "It was brave of you, Sinny, to speak up like that. I know I was upset at the time, but I shouldn't scold you for being interested in colony issues."

"That's okay," said Sinny, although a tickle in her throat dissuaded her from saying more.

"You're just a lot like your father sometimes." Atta shrugged. "Stubborn, not afraid to say what the rest of us don't even dare to consider. It can be _infuriating_, but at least you have more common sense than he does." Sinny grew colder, feeling her mother's hand stiffen on her shoulder. "You can tell him I said that."

"_Mom_," Sinny admonished. "Tell him yourself."

Atta ignored her, pulling her into the med cell, which sent some of the nurses into a tizzy, and Dr. Flora was immediately procured, seemingly out of nowhere. Sinny was given the usual examination, proclaimed ill but not seriously, given some herbs to take with her, and sent to her chamber. She spent the rest of the day in bed, bored out of her mind but admittedly weary.

**●•●**

The next day, Sinny was given an informal audience with the council, and found herself persuaded into preparing a celebration to honor the foreign ant and the new trade relations. This gave her pause – it was the first time she'd been put in charge of something so public, not to mention an event the entire colony would be attending. She found herself pacing in her room for a long while, her mind predictably whirling through an endless check-list; she finally snapped out of her frenetic haze, and sent the foreign ant a message to meet her by the bird monument.

They weren't the original remains of her father's bird contraption still standing by the anthill, of course – those had decayed away many seasons ago, but there was an entire committee dedicated to restoring and replicating the twig framing, the acorn beak, and occasionally entire wings out of orange and red leaves, season permitting. A few children played inside the framing, swinging from rib to rib, and they paused to stare as Sinny approached. The foreign ant was already waiting, peering at the monument curiously.

"I don't believe I got your name last time," Sinny said as a greeting, trying her best to put on a leadership voice.

"It's Leaf," he replied. He was a little funny-looking in the afternoon sun, his exoskeleton a mottled variety of blues, as though layers of color were peeling away. "Feeling better, Princess?"

"Oh, yeah, that." Sinny cleared her throat. "My mother gets a little over-protective sometimes – both my parents do, actually, whenever I get a cold, since I wasn't very healthy as a child. They say that's why I never grew any wings, in case you were wondering. I'm not just some random worker called Princess."

"Do you always give strangers your life story upfront?" Leaf asked, good-naturedly.

"Yeah, pretty much," Sinny said with a shrug. "My father says I'm 'forth-coming,' although my mother tends to call it 'over-bearing.' Or 'over-zealous.' She says other ants don't appreciate it when I talk my head off. Or _their_ heads off. Either way. I'm boring you, aren't I?"

Leaf chuckled. "No, Princess – it's interesting to see how fast you can talk without pausing for breath."

"Speaking of which - I was going to show you around the colony, actually," said Sinny, suddenly remembering why she'd asked to meet him in the first place, and gestured for Leaf to follow her. She took him past the anthill, around the tree, and into the grass stalks. As she did, she gave him some of the colony's history, and inquired about Leaf's own colony, a subject he wasn't very forthcoming on, until they reached an area where several workers were busy cutting down stalks.

"What _is_ this?" Leaf asked.

"Our harvesters," Sinny said, talking over the racket of the saws at work, and gesturing expansively to the scene at large. "We cut down the stalks instead of picking the grain one-by-one. It only takes a few dozen ants to do the work of hundreds. They're my father's creation, actually."

"Are they?" Leaf looked introspective for a moment, as though taking in the implication. As Sinny continued to explain the process, a nearby harvester stalled, and several pieces broke apart as the ant manning it tried to rev it up again. Incidentally, this caused the machine's so-far harvested grain to be launched in every direction - Sinny managed to pull Leaf down in time to avoid a kernel to the face.

"Well, that… happens," Sinny said, smiling at Leaf in a way that probably wasn't convincing. She began to gather stray kernels, just as Flik hustled over to the scene, decked out in a tool-belt and a backpack full of spare parts. A struggle ensued as the entire harvester seemed to take on a life of its own and had to be beaten into submission. Every ant in the vicinity paused to stare.

"And that's… my dad," Sinny said. Leaf continued to look dumb-founded as she pulled him over to Flik. Sinny called out to her father several times before he looked up from what was once a harvester.

"Hey, kiddo, I'm a little busy here," he said. "What's up?"

"This is Leaf, dad, he's our guest now. Leaf, this is my dad, Flik."

Flik looked up, giving Leaf more of his attention, and suddenly looked very serious - much more serious than Sinny was used to seeing him. "Sinny, are you out here by yourself with him? Where's your aunt?"

"Uh, I don't know," Sinny replied, glancing at Leaf, who shrugged. "I'm just showing Leaf around before I plan the welcome ceremony. What's the big deal?"

Flik continued to give Leaf a hard look.

"Where did you say you were from, again?" Flik asked him.

"The north – several days' travel from here," said Leaf, gesturing in the approximate direction. "We're a small colony; the rainy seasons haven't been kind to us."

"Is that so?" said Flik, not looking very convinced, and turned back to Sinny, handing her one of his tools. "Could you give me a hand with this?"

"But, _Dad_," Sinny said through her teeth.

"Just for a bit." He stood the broken harvester pieces up right and instructed her to reassemble the gears. Leaf was silent for a while, watching the scene, and then he was engaged in conversation. Sinny looked up from the mess of harvester parts to find Lily had snuck up to speak to Leaf. By the time the harvester was finished, Sinny no longer had an audience. She sighed in disgust and relief, tossing the tools back into her father's bag.

"And now they're gone," she said.

Flik patted her on the back. "Which means you can plan that ceremony without any distractions."

Sinny looked at the other harvesters – somebody called out as a stalk was felled, others revved their engines in response – and she felt her antennae droop slightly. Maybe it was the heat. Flik gave her shoulder a gentle shake.

"Go on, kiddo."

Sinny shrugged him off as she headed back to the anthill.


	3. Chapter 3

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 3**

**●•●**

It was Mr. Soil who eventually helped Sinny complete her plans for the welcome ceremony. Admittedly, Sinny enjoyed his sense of drama and flair, even if he did insist on directing a performance to illustrate how friendship would flourish under the proposed alliance between the two colonies.

The ceremony started at nightfall, as torches were lit around the queen's dais and the seats of honor on either side – they were decorated in twisting vines and purple, trumpet-shaped flowers. The entire colony feasted on grain purees in shallow kernel dishes, whole grain seasoned with herbs, and honey drinks in curly vine cups. Atta and Dot gave speeches outlining the new alliance, asking for any input or objections. There were none, of course.

Sinny sat on the far right, away from the speech-making, sipping her honey and looking down into the empty cup when it was gone. She found she was extra shy at a ceremony of her own devising. When she mingled, she was congratulated by ants she rarely spoke to, shaking hands and nodding and smiling – her teachers and the senior ants looked wistful, proud, as though they hadn't been sure she had it in her, but were glad she did.

When Atta acknowledged her, Sinny stood from her seat to accept the praise, but declined any speeches of her own. The only speech she'd ever made in front of the colony was during her and Lily's coming-of-age ceremony, when they were expected to give thanks to the colony, and state how glad they were to accept leadership roles. Sinny hadn't liked it much – the speeches or the implications.

The air was smoky from the torches, stinging Sinny's eyes, and it was thoroughly dark when Lily and Leaf were called forward to give their performance.

For reasons incomprehensible to Sinny, they'd volunteered for Mr. Soil's bold interpretation – a two-ant mime, with Lily representing her colony, and Leaf his. Sinny had the feeling there was more going on here; Mr. Soil seemed to expect, after some comic mishaps, for a great love affair to occur, rather than simple friendship. Perhaps he was just taking some artistic liberties, considering Sinny didn't think two entire colonies could fall in love simultaneously.

After the performance had concluded, and Lily and Leaf were swept from the acting space in a woven-stalk chariot, drowning in the applause of the always-appreciative colony, the ceremony was officially concluded. Sinny had fallen asleep sometime during the second act, face down on her empty dish, and after Dot shook her several times to no response, she was simply picked up like a child and taken to bed.

**●•●**

Sinny woke in the early hours of the morning, sitting up to find herself in her room, her bedcovers tucked around her. There was still an energy in the colony, one that didn't seem right. Other insects might call this "hive-mind," the idea that social insects acted as one. What Sinny felt was more of a buzz in her antennae, transmitting a certain emotion, one she couldn't decipher, yet. It was a detriment of being young, not being able to understand the colony completely.

She rubbed sleep from her eyes and stumbled to the door, looking out. Voices echoed in the halls, murmurs, and she could feel the vibrations of a still active colony. Instinctively, she made her way to the royal sitting room, expecting the adults to still be chatting and winding down from the party. What she found instead was her parents and aunt looking tired and worried – her mother paced, her voice shrill, and she paused mid-step when she noticed Sinny at the door. She rushed forward to embrace her daughter, and Sinny stiffened.

"Mom, what's going on?" she asked.

"Did your sister say anything to you?" Atta asked, holding Sinny out at arms' length.

"About..?" Sinny ventured, looking pleadingly at her father and aunt.

"She's gone," Flik said. He was still hunched over, pinching the ridge between his eyes. "Your sister vanished after the ceremony."

"And so did that foreign ant," said Dot, her features frozen in disbelief. Sinny felt a chill travel down her body, through her extremities, and the understated tension in the room threatened to suffocate her. If only they were mad, or yelling, or crying; instead they sat and stared at ghosts or shadows, their faces trapped in shock.

"What? Are you - are you serious?" Sinny wanted to chuckle nervously, but couldn't. She looked around the room again, and her mind began to burn with anger. "Is anyone looking for her? Why're we just sitting here?"

"It's too dark to send out a search team," said Atta, who resumed her pacing. "Who knows how far Lily's gotten by now? She could be anywhere, even carrying a passenger."

"But-" Sinny began.

"We already checked the entire island," said Dot. "And there are so many predators out, we'd be risking too many lives if we left the island now." Her wings twitched at the idea, as though she had already volunteered to fly out into the night and been dissuaded. Sinny thought of the Nightly Predators class she had last season, where her teacher had taken the class up into the tree after dark, and they'd watched through the leaves as bats and larger insects swooped through the moonlight, snatching tiny, unlucky specks out of the air or off the ground. Outside of the island, they were unlucky specks.

"So, but…" Sinny began again. "But…" She looked at her mother, thinking of Lily soaring through the night. They were right; she could be anywhere, even in just a few hours. Where would she be by morning? "Maybe she went with Leaf back to his colony. Isn't it somewhere to the north?"

Dot and Atta looked at each other. "He told us east."

Sinny's stomach dropped. How could she be so stupid? Maybe this is what he'd been planning all along. She found she'd started her own pacing.

"Okay, but if Leaf managed to walk here on his own, it can't be too far, can it? We'll check every colony in the area. Someone has to know where they went."

"We'll see in the morning," Atta said.

Finding she no longer had any desire to argue, Sinny sat next to Flik and hugged him, but he didn't look up.

**●•●**

Sinny spent the rest of the night pacing in her room until she passed out on her bed in exhaustion. When she woke, she ran out into the corridors, checking the royal chambers and finding them empty. There was a muted chaos in the colony, with workers milling about and wringing their hands, arguing with one another. Sinny felt their attention collectively shift to her as she ran past them, and the conversations changed to reflect her presence; she caught "Princess" and "sister" used frequently, but she ignored them, literally pushing past some to exit the anthill.

Her mother was still pacing, this time in front of a line up of guards. They looked ready for travel, wearing packs and carrying some rudimentary spears. A gaggle of on-lookers had paused at a distance to watch. Sinny stopped to watch with them, as two groups of five marched down towards the beach to enter the canyon.

The morning light was still thin and hazy, and the guards' shadows were long, bobbing behind them on the dirt. Sinny was tempted to approach her mother and tell her the guards would be too slow, they'd never cover enough ground, but she decided against it. She could still sense everyone looking at her – never had so much of the colony paid her this much attention on an average workday. She felt herself wilt under the stares. What were they thinking? Were their looks of pity, or accusation? Was this her fault? She hadn't dared to ask herself that, yet. A non-winged ant couldn't possibly kidnap Lily, could they?

"Dot, you're not going after her." Sinny stood behind her aunt, looking up at her as Dot turned around, away from the worker ants she had been trying to coerce into collecting some grain. "Why not? You could cover more ground than those guards can."

"Sinny." Dot sighed. "Atta and I discussed it."

"And?"

"And… I'm needed here." She gestured to the colony at large. The worker ants stared at her, looking startled to be included in Dot's arm sweep. Sinny squinted one eye at her aunt. She didn't understand, and said as much. "If I left and something happened to me," said Dot, "Ant Island would only have one queen ant."

"You're not going after Lily because there needs to be at least one heir." The implication that Sinny wasn't actually in line to inherit her mother's throne sat heavily between them, its weight so real Sinny was tempted to kick it away.

"The colony comes first." Dot turned to face the worker ants again. "I hate that I can't go after Lily, but this is the way it has to be."

Dot had been Sinny's go-to relative for most of her life – her chill, fun-loving aunt who _got _her, more than her parents ever would. But, she'd always been gravely serious about the colony's safety. Knowing what she did about Dot's childhood on Ant Island, Sinny thought she understood, to some degree. She was still very unhappy about Dot's decision and, by proxy, her mother's decision. The queen ants couldn't leave – Sinny, however, wasn't a queen ant.

**●•●**

She found Flik in his workshop, milling around, looking at the tools in his hands as though he wasn't quite sure how they'd gotten there. Sinny watched him for a while before crossing behind him to the tarps covering her project. She hadn't looked at it for several days – lifting one corner of the tarp, she peeked inside, and then uncovered it completely in one motion.

The frame was just how she'd left it: twigs molded and tied together into two outstretched wings, and a place for her to grab hold in the middle. She'd tested it exactly once, an experiment that left her glider in several pieces and her in the med cell. It had only been a minor concussion. She looked up at her father.

"Dad?" she ventured. He looked over at her in surprise, like he didn't know what to make of her. "Is my helmet here somewhere?" Flik reached a hand under his workbench and fished out a nutshell with straps. Sinny stepped towards him, and he put the helmet on her head without asking. "You okay, dad?"

"Your mother and I…" he began, but stopped. For all his inventive talents, looking utterly dejected was what her father was best at. Sinny hugged him instead of asking more questions, and he returned it for a long while, resting his chin on the top of her helmet. They didn't really need words right now.

Sinny suddenly felt very sorry for what she was about to do.

**●•●**

Under dark, once the colony had settled into their chambers for the night, Sinny crept out of her room, wearing a backpack with basic provisions. She checked the guard rotation, hiding in the shadows as they passed through corridors, and arrived at the workshop without incident. She wasn't sure if the glider would fit through the emergency exit, but she carried it there anyway, and found it just fit at a certain angle.

A full moon was out, bright enough to cast shadows and light Sinny's way up into the tree. It was a lot more awkward than she'd thought it'd be, and she nearly dropped the glider twice – but she _was_ an ant, she told herself, and she should be able to carry heavy loads up trees.

She settled the glider into a crook between the trunk and a branch, where dirt had gathered and was playing host to a few weeds. The night was clear, although it was a little misty in the canyon – it was still early fall, however, and any fog should burn away quickly. It was warm enough, even in these early hours, but Sinny's hands shook with trepidation as she waited for the first haze of light to show itself on the eastern horizon.

A chorus of crickets still filled the night beyond the canyon, as did the occasional cry of a predator. It was a friendly reminder of how many creatures were out there, waiting to eat her.

Sinny took a deep breath and let it out, trying to force her fears out with it. She strapped her helmet on under her chin, and held onto the glider's middle grip. The morning's growing heat would carry her, or at least she thought it would – she'd seen birds use the air to carry themselves high above her, without flapping their wings. She'd watched them from this very branch, taking notes and drawing diagrams. If these giant creatures could do it, she thought, so could she. If her colony could build a bird (albeit, one that didn't actually fly on its own), she could build her own wings.

She was pretty sure they would work this time.

**●•●**

And they did work, at least for a while.

With just enough light to make her way, she could feel the air change, clashing with the cooler night air, forcing itself up into a draft. She took the opportunity to stop thinking about what she was doing and simply do it – she ran down the branch and jumped off, coasting for a while until the glider pitched face-first towards the ground. Clenching her teeth, tears streaming out of her eyes (that's what she forgot – goggles), Sinny coaxed the glider back up until it leveled enough to catch the air again.

The canyon floor was gone, and the grass forest was below her; she forced herself to stop looking down, and concentrated on keeping herself going in the right direction. It proved difficult, as the drafts were unpredictable, and sometimes forced her up or dropped her down at their will. A few flying bugs passed by now and then, including a butterfly with large orange wings who paused and fluttered around her, flapping frantically in his effort to remain in the same spot, before he laughed and continued on his way.

There was a lot to see – hills, trees, and strange, large structures on the horizon. She was told that the farther you got from Ant Island, the bigger the world became. There were trees bigger than their own, bigger birds, bigger creatures. Much bigger than she could ever imagine, the elders told her, or the occasional traveling insect willing to answer her questions. Sinny wanted to see all of it, observe it, draw it or write it down. Surely these giants would never notice her – on the other hand, some peddler bugs had horror stories, of nests or colonies being destroyed by giants, entire massacres in one go. Sometimes they took prisoners, and put you in a box for the rest of your life.

It seemed too strange and horrible to be true.

The initial purpose of the flight was to survey the area, to see just how far other colonies might be. She saw none, and thought maybe she could reach the city to ask around. There was too much glare from the morning light, however, to see very well, and something swooped out of the sky, ripping the edge of one of the leaves from its framing, leaving a large gap in her glider.

She kept it steady as best she could, trying to control its descent. She'd caught the attention of a bird, she realized, but she couldn't spot it until it swooped again, large talons snatching part of her glider out of the air. The part Sinny was holding onto had no means of staying airborne, and the forest came up to meet her before she had time to realize what was happening.

Grass stalks broke her fall, and Sinny bounced off of several green, fibrous surfaces before landing face-first in the dirt. The remains of her glider followed, most of it getting stuck in the stalks above her.

She wallowed in shock and vertigo for a while, and then she raised herself, coughing up a mouthful of earth. The fall wasn't too bad – she'd withstood worse, considering a childhood on Ant Island often meant falling out of the tree more than once – she was more annoyed, mixed with elation. Her glider worked! It probably would have continued working, if that stupid bird hadn't spotted her. Something to work on.

Sinny stood, wiping the dirt away, and found she still had her backpack on, and her helmet wasn't the worse for wear. She removed it, stowed it in her pack, and took stock of her surroundings. After a thorough survey, she came to the conclusion she was lost utterly. It wasn't surprising – she didn't really know how to get anywhere except the city. But, she'd stayed mostly true towards the sunrise, which meant west would take her back to the colony. Maybe.

The sun had risen completely by now, and the sky through the stalks above her was only a bit orange-tinted, quickly becoming a clear blue. Sinny scrambled to the top of the nearest stalk, making sure the bird wasn't still around before peeking over the forest canopy. She couldn't quite see Ant Island from here – maybe she'd traveled farther than she thought. There was only forest and hills.

A fat, slow moving fly passed over her – she yelled and waved to get his attention, but he grunted and kept going.

"Well, _excuse you_," Sinny muttered. She watched the fly's progress, hoping his destination would be some help by proxy, but he only flew on until he was too far to see. Sinny took note of the direction anyway, and slid back down the stalk to travel towards the hypothetical destination. She'd come this far, she might as well find out all she could.

**●•●**

Sinny found herself still traveling when nightfall came, and she chose a hollow stalk to curl up in for the night. The forest after dark was strange and nerve-wracking – large insects passed by, and sometimes even much larger creatures, crunching along and felling stalks in their wake. Sinny was exhausted when morning came, and she considered digging a tunnel for herself for the next night. But, then again, who knew what might be lurking underground?

Foraging seeds and berries to eat wasn't too difficult – what was difficult was avoiding insects who might see her as their next meal. She hid behind rocks or in the grass, observing her fellow travelers at a distance. She figured other bugs her size probably wouldn't bother eating her, and those were the ones she approached.

Most looked a little startled by her presence, as lone ants weren't too common, but a few paused long enough to inform her about the surrounding area. A mud spa was a half-day's travel from here (not too helpful, but at least there would be more locals to question), a few watering holes, a snake hole to avoid, and the city was still two days away.

Sinny pressed on, digging a small tunnel under a stalk as night fell, which made her feel marginally safer.

**●•●**

Her first mistake was leaving her pack in the tunnel the next morning when she went into the forest, looking for dewdrops to drink and bathe in.

It didn't carry much in the way of food, but it did keep her parchment and quills to help map her surroundings, as well as medicinal herbs. As she returned to her tunnel, the smell caught her by surprise, and she stopped, running her antennae along the ground and the nearest stalk. The scent petrified her, and she was up a stalk before she could think twice about it. Looking around the trunk at this vantage point, she could see the clearing where she'd found a hollow stalk and dug her shelter inside and under it. Someone very large and hairy had also found it, confirming the scent: an arachnid.

Some spiders were okay, and counted among her friends, and some were decidedly not okay, especially the ones who spun webs to trap the likes of her. This was perhaps the largest spider she'd ever seen, each of its eight legs larger than she was. It wasn't tall and spindly, but thick, squat, its bulbous abdomen close to the ground. It was also humming and bouncing along to a rhythm as it went through her stuff.

Sinny sighed mentally, not risking the small sound just yet, and stared at the scene for a while. There wasn't anything edible in her pack, if that's what it was looking for. Maybe it'd leave.

She was ready to wait it out, until the spider decided her pack was more than a little interesting – it flung it on its back, rotating itself 180 degrees with every intention of leaving with her possessions. When it finished its rotation, it found itself face-to-face with a small blue ant. She didn't look pleased.

"That's my _stuff!_" Sinny shouted, and the spider skittered back in surprise – she was much louder than something so tiny had any right to be. "Give it back you hairy, thieving, sneaky spider-thief!"

"Whoa, chill out, man," the spider said, sounding amused, although he took another step back. "I was just lookin', man, it was just sittin' here."

"You weren't just looking you have it right there!" Sinny pointed to the bag, laying eschew on the spider's midsection. "_Give it back!_"

"Whoa, whoa, alright little chica." He reached up with one appendage and held out the pack to Sinny. She hesitated, and then snatched it from him, riffling through it to make sure everything was inside. "I just thought it looked cool, ya know?" the spider continued. "I haven't seen a little leaf bag like that before, man. You make that?"

Sinny glared up at him, brows furrowed at his attempt at conversation. She swung the pack over her shoulder in a huff. "Yes, I did." She continued to glare. "Well? You going to leave me alone now?" Sinny headed around the spider, back to her stalk before he could answer. He rotated on his eight legs to face her as she did.

"You're a funny chica, ya know that? Most ants are outta here when they see me, but you just don't give a damn. Pretty crazy, man."

"Yeah, I guess." Sinny shrugged as she stepped into the stalk, and closed the leaf-flap behind her. She could still see the hulking silhouette of the spider through the fibrous material. His steps made the ground vibrate under her, but he didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"I'm not gonna eat you, man," he said.

"Why not?" Sinny called out.

"Ants aren't very tasty – besides, I'm not gonna eat a bug I've had a conversation with, that just sucks. And maybe you could help me out."

Sinny stuck her head out of the flap. "You snoop through my stuff then want my help?"

"I'm trying to get to a circus that's around here – ya know, to look for a job? Any idea where it is?"

"The circus?" Sinny's antennae twitched in surprise, and she jumped out of the stalk. "The circus! P.T.'s circus?"

"Sure, I guess." The spider shrugged with several of his legs.

"I have… no clue where it is! But, if we ask around, somebody has to know, right?" Sinny put her pack on and looked at the spider. After a moment, she held out her hand. "I'm Sinny."

"The name's Chili," he replied, holding out an appendage to return the handshake. "If you really wanna come with, chica, might as well hop on." Chili gestured to his back, and Sinny climbed up his leg to take a seat on his abdomen. She took a gentle hold of some of his spiny hairs to keep steady as the spider (tarantula, really) began traveling back into the forest.

**●•●**

Author's note: Chili is, in fact, based on Chili the Chilean tarantula (who's actually a Mexican redknee tarantula) from _It's Tough to Be a Bug! _It's one of my favorite 4D shows, for obvious reasons.


	4. Chapter 4

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 4**

**●•●**

Sinny talked for the both of them, telling Chili about her travels, about the bugs she'd met, and about her glider. Chili didn't seem to know what to make of her stories, or else he was content to just listen. They flagged down an insect now and then, who looked thoroughly surprised to see an ant riding a tarantula, and some stopped long enough to point them in the direction of P.T.'s circus before running for their lives.

They began to find signage by late afternoon – large, bright, and utterly pompous, with a heavy emphasis on the circus being the brainchild of P.T. Flea. Sinny wasn't too surprised, from what she remembered of the circus bugs – they'd stopped visiting Ant Island several seasons ago, when Sinny was just a kid. She'd never understood why, but maybe now was her chance to find out.

A distinct scent of stale popcorn caught Sinny's attention first as they reached the clearing – a glare bounced off of the shiny yellow surface serving as a tent, blinding Sinny through the leaf stalks. She held up an appendage to block her eyes, and didn't notice the guard beetle at the perimeter.

"Whoa, whoa, hold up, fellas," he said, not fazed by the massive tarantula in front of him. "The show's dark today, better come back another time."

Sinny held on tighter as Chili lurched, pausing mid-stride, and backed up.

"Heard you needed some labor bugs, man," Chili said, wriggling his sizable appendages. "I can do that."

The beetle considered this, tapping his chin with a forearm. Chili _did _look like he could carry off the entire tent in one go.

"Hm. What about her?" The beetle looked up at Sinny. "She your handler?"

"Yes?" Sinny agreed.

The beetle considered them a moment longer. "Alright, try-outs are around the back. Insect Resources should be able to help you out."

They headed into the circus grounds, passing by workers, clowns, an occasional acrobat – the big top itself loomed in front of them, while several boxes serving as buildings were clustered around the back. Snippets of music wafted from the tent now and then.

Sinny stood up on Chili's back to get a better look; the grounds were like a small town unto itself, with market stalls that were currently boarded up, children running past, the adults milling around in clusters on their day off. They were starting to notice Chili, pointing and staring. Sinny jumped down and sent Chili off to Insect Resources by himself, intent on finding the specific insects she knew from childhood. Their visages were advertised throughout the grounds, but the bugs themselves were nowhere in sight.

She passed through the mess hall, where varieties of plants, nectar, and trash were being served, and then she headed to the boxes, examining each one, trying to decide what or whom they housed. When she was caught snooping, she explained who she needed to see, but was laughed at – no one bothered the stars on their day off. Sinny relented by meeting Chili back at Insect Resources.

"No luck, little chica?" Chili asked as Sinny approached the stall manned by a single katydid. She looked busy with some kind of paperwork.

"They apparently can't be disturbed," Sinny said, shrugging. "I'm not sure…"

"You here for the try-outs?" the katydid said. She glanced up from her leaf-pad, giving Sinny a look over.

"Try-outs?" Sinny wondered.

"For the acrobat troupe. Yes or no?"

"Yes," said Sinny, exchanging a look with Chili, who gaped. Sinny made a discreet, reassuring gesture. The katydid scribbled away on her leaf-pad, looking up at Sinny several times as though checking something, and then pointed towards the big top.

"They're just starting inside – you better hurry."

**●•●**

The katydid's insistence was justified – the entire acrobat troupe was composed of ants. The big top was lined with empty seats, and a small cluster of children played near the entrance; several ants were already standing on one another's shoulders for no discernible reason, while a few were in the rafters, chatting up the fireflies who were lighting the scene. Sinny approached the center group, the only ones still on the ground and not climbing all over each other.

"Hey, who's this?" a tall tan ant said, turning to greet her. "You here to try out?"

"She's a good size," said the blue ant next to him.

"How many seasons are you, kid?" the tall ant asked.

"Sixteen," said Sinny. "Look, I had some questions…"

"Doesn't she look like Ant Island stock?" the blue ant said, nudging the squat ant next to her. The squat ant nodded in agreement.

"Well, yeah, actually I am," said Sinny.

"I knew it," said the blue ant. "Most of us are. I haven't seen anyone from those parts since our last circuit to Ant Island, though. Did you come all this way to run away to the circus?"

"Erm… sort of."

"She's got dedication, Greg," the blue ant told the tall ant. Greg nodded. Sinny waved her hands in protest, frantically trying to delay any actual acrobatics.

"I was wondering if you guys could help me out, actually. My sister's gone missing and I'm trying to find her. I just need to talk to Francis or Rosie, or any of the other circus bugs."

"Oh?" said the blue ant, not looking impressed. "And why would they know some kid who just showed up?"

"Because they…" Sinny hesitated. "Because they know my parents – Flik and Queen Atta."

The blue ant blinked at her, while Greg and the other ants gave her a closer look.

"The queen's daughter?" said Greg, incredulously. "You're saying you're the princess?"

"Princess Sinnia," Sinny replied, hoping a show of confidence would be persuasive. "Lily's been kidnapped." A few of the ants looked concerned, while a couple "puh'd" at her, clearly not impressed. Greg and the blue ant looked indecisive.

"The princess? But, that would mean…" Greg paused to count on his fingers.

"It's been five seasons since we last saw the princesses," said the blue ant. "They would've only been eleven or so. She's the right age."

"But…" Greg paused to consider something else.

"And look at her, she looks just like Flik," the blue ant said, gesturing towards Sinny. "I think she's telling the truth." She turned to address Sinny again. "But, why are you here by yourself?"

"I… I had to come. No one else could." Sinny shook her head, trying to ward away more questions. The blue ant seemed about to say something else, but then she stopped.

"Their trailer's out back," she said, jabbing her thumb to indict the rear of the tent. "Look for the biggest one, next to P.T.'s, you can't miss it." Sinny smiled in appreciation, and then bowed out, jogging towards the wings before anyone else could stop her.

**●•●**

She cut through a few dressing rooms before finding herself at the tent's back entrance. The occasional stagehand was cleaning up, but no one paid her any mind. Sinny stuck her head out a rip in the tent and looked around for a moment.

"Are you really the princess?" a small voice asked, and Sinny turned to find two kid ants had shadowed her.

"Uh, yeah," Sinny said, shrugging. The girls gasped.

"Mom and dad told me all about the two princesses on the Island." The smaller girl bounced a bit, unable to hold in her excitement. The second girl whispered in the smaller girl's ear. "Are you Sinnia?" the smaller continued. "Because you're the very blue one?" Sinny glanced at her own exoskeleton – she'd didn't think she was _very_ blue.

"Yeah," Sinny said again, "I am." She took a few steps out of the tent, acting preoccupied, to see if the girls were going to continue pursuing her. They did.

"Did you come to see the show?" the second girl asked, sounding a bit more stoic than the smaller. Sinny began her search of the trailers, with the two girls on her heels.

"No – I need to find the circus bugs, actually." She paused mid-step, causing the girls to nearly run into her. Sinny turned and crouched to better address them. "You have to know where their trailer is, right?"

"She means Manny and Gypsy and them," the second girl told the smaller. The smaller nodded.

"Yep!"

"Do you want to be like a princess, and help me find their trailer?" Sinny tried, praying she wasn't pushing it. The two girls practically squealed.

"Do we also get a tea party and dress up like princesses?" said the smaller.

"O… kay," said Sinny, caught a bit off guard. "Yeah, after you guys help me out." The two girls set off running and Sinny hurried to catch up with them.

They led her to what was indeed the largest box serving as a trailer, a ways back from the big top. Sinny crouched behind an over-turned popcorn stall, watching at a distance as a few security beetles loitered by the entrance. She had a feeling going up to them and stating her business wasn't going to cut it. The two girls followed Sinny's moves to a T, crouching behind the stall along side her.

"Can you do something else for me?" Sinny asked. "I need you to be sneaky like a princess."

"Yeah!" the girls replied, and then shushed each other.

"See those guards? Can you distract them, maybe lead them somewhere else?"

The two girls looked pensive for a moment, and then they took off towards the trailer. Sinny watched as they told the guards they were needed in the big top right away, and after some persuasion, the beetles left with the girls back to the tent. It was pretty impressive actually – Sinny didn't think the girls would be quite that sneaky.

She made sure they were out of sight before leaving her hiding place to approach the trailer. Sinny knocked on the door flap, hoping they were inside – after a moment someone called out, and Sinny took it as an invitation.

The interior of the trailer was a bit hazy, from what Sinny vaguely recognized as incense, and was mostly done up in red. Dead bouquets were piled near the entrance, along with discarded food containers; Sinny recognized Slim, Francis, and Manny seated at a table playing cards. They didn't look up when she entered.

"Hey, guys…" Sinny suddenly felt very awkward, walking in on them.

"We're kinda busy here, kid," said Francis. He turned to look at her. "Who's this?"

"I think it's one of the acrobats," Slim said. Manny threw a card in the pile.

"Don't bother us today." Francis turned to face the table again.

"But, I just wanted to…" Sinny floundered for a moment, losing her nerve. She was about to disappear out the door flap when Rosie entered through a partition, which seemed to separate the trailer into different rooms. "Aunt Rosie!" Sinny called to her.

The black widow paused, her expression muddled.

"Who..?" Rosie began, taking a few steps closer to the ant. "Sinny? Is that you?" Sinny ran forward to embrace the spider she knew from childhood, leaving the card players flabbergasted. "You're all grown up," said Rosie. "Let me get a look at you."

"These clowns were going to kick me out," Sinny said, pointing an accusing finger at the literal clowns. Rosie frowned at them.

"My eye-sight's not what it used to be, my dear," Manny said, looking contrite. Francis and Slim were still staring, not sure what to make of the ant.

"Who's Sinny?" Francis whispered to Slim.

"The princess – Flik's daughter, you dolt," Slim replied. Francis gave Sinny another look over.

"Sorry, kid, didn't recognize you." He shrugged and turned back to his card game. Rosie groaned in agitation.

"Don't mind them," she said. "Are your parents here?"

"No," said Sinny. "I'm kinda, uh, here by myself. I'm trying to find my sister." She relayed the story thus far to Rosie and any who cared to listen, pacing the trailer as she did. The card players eventually gave her their full attention as she described her glider and her adventures traveling in the wilderness on her own.

"But, honey, we should really tell your parents," said Rosie. "They'll be worried sick."

"I need to find this other colony," Sinny pleaded, glancing around at the circus bugs, all of them now giving her their full attention. "I need to find Lily. I've already come this far."

"What about that colony near the base of the hills?" said Francis, but Rosie quickly shushed him.

"Sinny, sweetie, you can stay here tonight, and we'll send someone to Ant Island." The spider looked at the card players, hinting at volunteers. "I'd rather let your parents decide what to do from here."

"But, Rosie…" Sinny began. The spider held up an appendage.

"No 'buts,' young lady."

**●•●**

They let Sinny use an extra bed in the trailer, one hidden away in its own partitioned corner, and she immediately fell asleep on it. When she woke it was early evening, and the trailer had darkened considerably. Sinny ate the grain pastries left next to her bedside before venturing out again; the trailer was now filled with circus bugs, who were all waiting to greet the daughter of their old friend.

Sinny was nearly mowed down by Tuck and Roll, who popped up in front of her and hugged her simultaneously, and they continued trying to entertain her as she chatted up Gypsy, Manny, and Heimlich. Dim stopped by briefly to greet her through a window.

Francis and Slim held back in a corner of the room, discussing something discreetly with Rosie, and Sinny didn't doubt the subject was an impending journey to Ant Island. Before long she was engaged in a card game with five of the eight bugs in the trailer, one similar enough to games she'd played on Ant Island that she picked it up quickly, and she'd soon won the pot several times. She made sure to lose the next round spectacularly and excused herself – Rosie, Slim, and Francis had disappeared. Sinny feigned returning to her bed, and snuck out the back of the trailer.

She wasn't sure what her next move should be. Find Chili and leave altogether? Or strike out on her own? She hadn't anticipated the circus bugs flying back to Ant Island to inform her parents, but now she had some time to set off again before they could return.

Most of the insects employed at the circus were now gathered in the grounds' only cantina, save for a few guards patrolling the grounds and the occasional straggler. Sinny circled the trailers a few times and observed the cantina from a distance, but there was no sign of the tarantula. She even checked the big top again, but found no one.

Dejected, Sinny turned to return to the trailer, when she found her way blocked by Greg and the blue ant from before.

"So, what's the big idea?" said the blue ant.

"What?" said Sinny.

"_Sneaky like a princess?_" The blue ant took a step forward, closing in on Sinny. "What exactly did you tell our daughters? They also seem to think you promised them a tea party."

"Well?" said Greg. "Are you giving our girls this tea party or not?"

"I… uh. Yeah," said Sinny, her antennae drooping slightly. "Of course. What's a good time, first thing in the morning?"

**●•●**

True to her word, Sinny spent the next morning in the acrobats' trailer entertaining the girls with a tea party. The fact that Sinny neither looked nor acted like a princess seemed to phase them not at all, although they did insist she wear a tiara, something she'd always refused to do back on Ant Island.

She'd seen the circus bugs before she left – they were prepping for the show that evening, and were amused that she'd already made plans; even more amusing was that she was already in trouble with the acrobats, and she hadn't even been there a full day. At least the circus bugs were all accounted for, meaning her fears had been premature; no one had flown off to Ant Island just yet. Sinny was still suspicious, though - just because _they_ hadn't, didn't mean no one else had.

When the girls lost interest and she was able to slip away, Sinny went back to bed. The excitement of the last several days caught up to her, and she suddenly wasn't feeling too great.

She slept through lunch, and the show was well underway when she woke. Sinny could feel the vibrations of the music and the crowd, and hear the echoing of the announcements for each act. Intrigued, she made her way out of the trailer and sat on a crate just outside, watching what little she could see of the circus. Whatever was happening inside the big top, the audience had hushed in awe, and a reedy instrument played a melancholy tune.

"Hey, chica. You not part of the act tonight?"

Sinny turned to face Chili, who'd snuck up behind her. "Nah, I'm not much of an acrobat."

"Oh," said Chili, and Sinny couldn't quite tell if he was kidding or not. He sat himself down next to the ant, as much as a tarantula could be seated. "So, man, you really are friends with the stars, huh?"

"Yeah – they're friends of the family, actually." Sinny shrugged, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "It's kind of a long story. What about you; get that job you wanted?"

"Man, they took one look at me and had me hauling all types of junk. They want me to keep on for the season, ya know, and pull some of the train when they pack up."

"And you're okay with that?" Sinny asked, curling herself up against the tarantula's hairy foreleg.

"Sure. It's something to do, ya know?" He shifted himself to get a better look at her. "You okay, chica?"

"What? Yeah." Sinny sat up, rubbing his eyelids. "Just kinda tired." She sighed, watching the big top as the lighting inside changed to a bright orange. The applause was polite this time, rather than enthusiastic. "I'm not sure what to do, Chili. They want to fetch my parents to come get me. But, I can't go now. Not yet."

"Well, I don't know, man. If you got a family out there, maybe you should go back to them."

"I can't go back to Ant Island without my sister." Sinny realized she was preening her antennae in agitation, and stopped. "I don't know if I could live with myself. What if we never find her?" The idea sunk in suddenly, and Sinny hid her face in her hands, pressing her palms into her eyelids, trying to block it out. A hairy foreleg gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"How much longer you have, chica, before they come and get you?" Chili asked.

"I don't know." Sinny shook her head. "I don't even know if they've sent anyone. I need to…" She stopped to think. "There's supposed to be a colony nearby – at the base of the hills. Have you heard of it?"

"I just know most bugs don't dare-" Chili paused. "Oh, no no no; what, you wanna go over there? I don't think so, man, nuh uh."

"But, what other colony should I search? Are there any others?"

"This colony's bad news, seriously. They'd kill you as soon as look at you."

Sinny stood up, feeling a little shaky. "Well, I'll have to go by myself." She turned to leave, but the tarantula blocked her path.

"Come on, man, you can't be serious."

The ant ducked underneath him and continued walking. "I'm sorry, Chili, but I have to. What if she's there?" Sinny was about to slip into the trailer, when the tarantula sighed in resignation.

"Okay… okay! Don't get all mad – find me when you're ready to go, alright?"

"Will you be ready soon?" Sinny called from within the trailer. "I'm good to go now, not taking any chances." She stuffed her few possessions into her pack, and then hesitated. What was she going to tell the circus bugs? The idea of just up and leaving them made her feel ill, but what if they tried to stop her? She grabbed a parchment and quill, and chewed on the end of it for a moment before scrawling a note for them, offering a brief explanation and an apology. She'd come back later, Sinny told herself, and sort this out, beg their forgiveness.

Making sure the coast was clear, Sinny slung her pack over her shoulder and climbed up Chili, taking her usual perch on his back. None of the workers thought much of the tarantula making his way through the trailers, and didn't notice him slip back into the forest.


	5. Chapter 5

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 5**

**●•●**

They traveled swiftly at first, in case anyone decided to come after them, but as there was no sign of circus pursuers, Chili slowed to his regular pace. He seemed to know where he was going, so Sinny let her guard down for a while. She eventually fell asleep on top of the tarantula, and it was nearly morning when she found herself slipping off sideways and falling to the ground. Chili narrowly missed trampling her, and doubled back.

"You okay, chica?" he asked, looking down at her. Sinny sat up and rubbed the back of her head; as an after thought, she checked to see if her bag was intact.

"Never better," she said, and stood up, slinging the pack over her shoulder. "How much farther do you think?"

"Hard to say, man, I don't come over here too often." He looked around at their forest surroundings. There were a few crickets calling to each other in the gloom, but it was eerily still otherwise. "The quieter it gets, the more we know we're headed in the right direction."

"Oh. Good." Sinny frowned, finding she desperately wanted to be perched on the tarantula again. A bit of fog still lingered around her feet, and it was difficult to see too far through the grass stalks in any direction.

Something rustled behind them suddenly, and Sinny scrambled up Chili's leg back to her perch. A moment later, a weevil came out from behind a dead leaf, looked at them, and continued on his way. Chili laughed, and Sinny smacked the back of his head.

"That could've been anything," she admonished, but the tarantula kept laughing.

**●•●**

She must've fallen asleep again at some point, because the next thing Sinny knew, she was being roughly dragged to her feet in the dirt, both her arms tightly gripped behind her. She called out and struggled, but the ant apprehending her was larger and stronger than she was. He tied some stringy, thick material around both her wrists and then let her drop face first to the ground.

"Is it just you?" he asked. Half of her face still pressed to the dirt, Sinny tried to scan her surroundings. Chili wasn't here.

"Who wants to know?" Sinny said, and was kicked in the face several times.

"You a scout?" her captor asked. Sinny shook her head, the vision in her left eye blurring as it swelled up.

"No… just a traveler."

The captor paced around the area for a while as Sinny breathed into the dirt. She tried to feel for vibrations, in case Chili might be returning, but there were none. Sinny didn't know what to make of his disappearance – then again, she didn't know where she was or what was happening.

Her captor finished his pacing and hoisted Sinny to her feet, saying nothing, dragging her along with him. They came across other guard ants, most as blue as Sinny was; they all had a look to them, somewhat different than Ant Island stock (the same look Leaf had? She wasn't sure). Sinny was handed over to another guard, and as she was taken away, she realized the first guard had her pack. She had an overwhelming urge to yell at him, but knew it wouldn't do any good.

She was pulled along until her legs gave out, then the guard hoisted her over his shoulder and carried on. After a stretch through the forest, the guard paused to call out to someone, and then continued after a great creaking and rustling had taken place. From Sinny's view at the rear, she watched as they passed through some sort of twig and thorn barricade – although, at the time she didn't know what to call it. She hadn't seen such a thing before. Part of the barricade swung closed behind them.

She surmised she'd been carried right into the colony she'd been looking for, but it was very quiet, especially for midday. There was no socializing hum, no children running and screaming – just quiet, and occasional harsh words to one another.

The place felt dry, hot, and barren, although Sinny didn't get a good look at it before she was taken underground. She was tossed into a cell at the end of a dark tunnel, and the door secured behind her. The door had bars she could see through, made of wood and some strange shiny material; she gripped the bars and looked out at the other cells, each one occupied by several ants. None of them looked back at her. The guards convened and then left together, one remaining behind to be stationed at the entrance.

Sinny's cell had just enough room for her to stretch out in, but she found this unwise, since the majority of the cell floor was covered in muck and decay, and something resembling an exoskeleton, which was disconcerting. She curled up in the corner with the least muck, waiting out this shared isolation. Occasionally the guard paced the tunnel, surveying the inmates. The weak bit of light showing through the entrance waned, and the tunnel darkened. Sinny slept in fits, jerking awake now and then to find she was still in the cell.

A few times someone came to look at her, even open the door and speak; someone asked her name, and she might have given it to them. She dozed; when she woke again, there was a very pink presence in front of her, crouched at her side.

"Sinny?" said her sister's voice. "Are you alright? Oh, what're you doing here?" Lily addressed the guards over her shoulder, "She's sick. She needs to go to the med cell. _Please._"

There was some mild protest, but Lily picked up her sister and carried her out of the cell, and the guards stepped aside.

**●•●**

Sinny woke in a med cell bed, both her hands tied to the frame, which she thought was excessive. A screen blocked her view of the rest of the cell, but she could smell the presence of about a dozen other workers and the bitter scent of herbs, several she didn't recognize. The guard next to the screen noticed her looking around, and disappeared; Lily came around the screen a moment later. There was nothing discernibly different about her, except for the yellow-leafed tiara she wore. Sinny wanted to greet her, but coughed instead. It was flemmy, and lasted longer than she thought it should.

"Not doing so good, huh?" said Lily, sitting on the bed and putting a hand on Sinny's forehead. "Your fever's breaking, at least. How did you get here?"

"By glider, and by tarantula." Sinny shrugged. "You're a hard ant to find, you know that?"

"You couldn't just leave well enough alone, could you?" Lily stood and paced in front of the bed. "Did Mom and Dad send you?"

"Send _me?_ By myself? No." Sinny coughed again. "They were going to let the guards try and find you. I didn't think that would do much good." She watched as Lily continued to pace. "You didn't want to be found, did you?"

"Sinny, I… it's a little more complicated than that." Lily sat back down on the bed, whispering conspiratorially. "I thought I'd be able to do some good by coming to this colony, but… it's not what I was expecting." She checked over her shoulder for eavesdroppers. "I'd help you escape, but the queen's going to give you an audience tonight, whether you're better or not."

"Audience?" said Sinny. "That's not code for public execution, is it?"

"No – not yet, anyway. You did _something_ to catch her attention." Lily looked more put out than worried, as though Sinny had planned the whole thing. "Whatever it is, I'd comply. At least for now. The queen here isn't the forgiving sort."

"And what about you?" Sinny looked at her sister, not sure what to make of her anymore.

"I'll be there. At the audience. Just… don't say anything too forward, alright?" Lily looked over her shoulder again. "I should go. Try to get some rest for now – you still look terrible."

**●•●**

Against her better judgment, Sinny was dozing when she found herself untied from the bed, given another drink of medicinal herbs from a harried-looking nurse, and escorted by two guards to the audience chamber. Ants stopped in the tunnels to watch her pass, some following behind at a distance – many congregated at the entrance to the audience chamber, none making a sound, just staring. Sinny stumbled at the entrance, her legs shaky from effort, and she was picked up on either side, a hand under each armpit, and half-dragged the rest of the way.

The chamber was wide, spacious, and dimly lit, but there was no council here, only the queen's throne, and the queen upon it. She was not much older than Atta, younger perhaps; her exoskeleton was a pale blue, almost white, and it made her seem rather frail. The throne itself was made of thorns, poking up in all directions except where one needed to be seated, and was impressively large.

Sinny was dumped within speaking distance of the throne, and she made every effort to stand up-right immediately and face this queen, even though she still felt weak and ill from her fever. What made her crumble a little was spotting Lily off to the side, not a prisoner but a participant. The queen flew down from the throne and landed in front of Sinny.

"Yes, your sister's here." The queen seemed to be speaking more towards the ants congregated outside the door, as though the statement applied to neither sister in particular. She let this sink in, and then addressed Sinny directly. "You're not what I expected. You're not a queen ant."

"I am, I just didn't grow any wings-"

"Then you're _not a queen ant_." The queen twitched her own wings for emphasis. "Pity. Both you and your sister come from impressive lineage. At least one of you is fulfilling her potential – but what to do with the defective one?"

Sinny balled her fists but said nothing, keeping her rebuttals at bay with every fiber of her being. One side of the queen's mouth tensed in a kind of half smile. "Luckily another option has presented itself," the queen continued, gesturing for one of the guards to bring forward what looked like a jumbled mess of twigs. It took Sinny several moments to recognize what it was. "My scouts found this – Princess Lily says it's your creation."

"It is," said Sinny, fighting the urge to glance at her sister. "That's my glider."

"How does it work?" the queen asked.

"Well, uh – when it's not broken it has a frame like this." Sinny outlined the shape with her arms. "And I glued leaves to it, to catch the air currents. You grip it in the middle, and then jump off something high."

"And it takes you through the air?" said the queen. "The rider controls where it goes?"

"Most of the time," said Sinny. The queen looked at the jumbled mess, doubtfully.

"And, yet, you crashed this one?"

"A bird snatched it in mid-air," Sinny said. "Couldn't help that."

The queen said nothing for a while, staring at what used to be a glider. And then her gaze shifted back to Sinny, as though appraising her, and Sinny held eye contact with the queen for as long as seemed necessary. "Well, then," said the queen. "I have a proposition for you, Common-Ant Sinnia. You create what I ask of you, provided these flying contraptions of yours actually work, and you won't be executed."

"You want me to make… gliders?"

"In a sense," said the queen. "I had something much larger in mind. Is that a yes or a no, Common-Ant?"

"I…" Sinny looked over at Lily, hoping for some clue, some support, anything to tell her where this was going. Lily only stared back, looking terrified. "Yes, I'll try."

"You won't _try_," said the queen. "You either will or you won't."

"I… yes, I will," Sinny replied.

**●•●**

Later, when she was secured to a bed in the med cell again, Sinny ran the conversation over in her mind several times. _Yes, I will? _What was she thinking? What had she even agreed to? And why did she have the audacity to face this queen, in front of an entirely foreign colony, like it was no big deal? She figured being medicated was somewhat to blame.

She waited all day to give Lily a piece of her mind, but didn't get the opportunity – she had no visitors, no friendly faces except for the harried-looking nurse who asked her questions and checked her temperature. A guard later gave her the message to, "recover quickly," as much good as that would do. She burrowed into her blankets, as well as she could with her hands tied, and didn't get any better.

There was on-and-off arguing in the med cell between the guards and nurses – the queen wanted Sinnia to get to work right away, but she wasn't going to do any good while she was ill. And who knew what foreign diseases she'd brought to the colony? Sinny was ultimately given an extra day in bed, and tested for any odd symptoms that could be the plague.

The nurses didn't exactly give her a clean bill of health on the third day, but Sinny's convalescence came to an end regardless – she was scrubbed down with herbs first, ones that smelled suspiciously like what she'd been drinking, and then she was taken to Ant Services to be processed. They registered her with the title of Production Overseer, which sounded more important than it felt, considering two guards twice her height were jostling her around the entire time. And then she was carted off to a large, mostly empty cell, where several workers ants were at her disposal, including a familiar face.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," Sinny said, turning and walking away immediately. She sat on the first rock she saw and hugged her knees.

"I'm sorry, Sinny," Leaf said, following her. "I didn't have a choice in this-"

"Oh, really?" Sinny said into her knees.

"The queen – you saw her – she threatened to hurt my family if I didn't take that scouting job. She wanted me to bring back a princess."

"That justifies you kidnapping my sister?"

"Lily wanted to come with me," said Leaf. "I didn't force her. She didn't tell you?" Sinny said nothing, and after a while Leaf approached her, giving her a closer examination. "You okay?" he asked. "You don't look so good."

"Of course I'm not okay," Sinny said, uncurling and standing up to face Leaf. "I came all this way for nothing – not only that, my tarantula's missing, my sister's a pawn for a queen who's a tight-ass dictator-" The worker ants in ear-shot gasped at Sinny's audacity, and Sinny rolled her eyes at them. "And I'm stuck here trying to build who-knows-what, with no clue how or why. I'm just-"

Her tirade came to an end with an abrupt coughing fit, and Leaf watched as she struggled to catch her breath. He tried to help by patting her on the back when she seemed to be choking, but Sinny shrugged him off and plopped down on her rock again.

"And your family?" Sinny asked when she could speak again. "Are they all right?"

"My wife and daughter?" said Leaf. "Yeah. Yeah, they're okay."

"Good." Sinny looked up at the worker ants who were watching her from a distance – they were a motley crew, but looked capable, at least; an older man, a few women maybe ten seasons her senior, and a boy. Leaf cleared his throat as Sinny regarded the lot.

"I know you're not feeling too great," said Leaf, "but I'll have to report today's progress at the end of the day, so…"

"So, does the queen have something specific she wants me to make?" Sinny asked, rubbing her eyelids with the palms of her hands. "Or do I have to guess?"

When she opened her eyes again, Leaf was holding a rolled parchment in front of her. She took it from him and inspected it for a while, and then she stood up and started pacing.

The plan called for a flying contraption that could carry several soldiers at the same time, but that seemed impossible. Sinny shook her head at the idea, and the workers watched while she seemed to have a conversation with herself. There were a few worktables against the wall, and Sinny laid the parchment out on one, weighing each corner down with a nearby tool.

"Some sort of large-" She stretched her arms out for emphasis as she addressed the workers. "Large, uh, transport. For several ants at the same time. That will fly through the air." She pointed at the air, once again for emphasis. "Any ideas?"

The workers shifted their footing and looked at each other.

"Does anyone have experience building anything that flies?" Sinny asked, feeling a little desperate.

"Just you," said the older man. Sinny sighed and began rummaging through the supplies piled around the worktables, pulling out parchments and pining them to the wall. Then she found a quill and drew a schematic of her glider on one of the parchments. There was a stunned silence as Sinny then proceeded to create a miniature glider out of twig bits.

When she finished, she threw the glider towards the workers, who watched as it sailed over their heads; the boy laughed and ran after the glider.

"That's all I got," Sinny said. "One glider for one ant." The boy returned to the group glider in hand and ran around with it, pretending it could swoop and dive-bomb. "Obviously this won't work," Sinny continued. "Even if we built a larger one and had several ants hold onto it, that doesn't seem practical."

There was a mild hum of agreement from the worker ants. Sinny waited for suggestions, and was finally able to coax some out of the workers, drawing them on the parchment – larger gliders with a bird-like wingspan, a place for ants to sit inside the plane instead of out in the open. There were no ideas on how to actually keep the thing in the air, though.

Sinny continued to draw out ideas through the noon-break, opting to eat what the workers brought back for her; by the time the work day came to an end, they had drawings of several impressive looking but ultimately convoluted planes. Sinny hoped it would be enough for now as she rolled them up and handed them to Leaf – the queen could punish Sinny however she liked, she just didn't want the workers to get into trouble.

**●•●**

She was surprised to find she had a small cell of her own to sleep in – Sinny fully expected to be led to the barracks after the evening meal, but she figured it must be easier to guard her when she was alone and there was only one exit. Or else they didn't want her infecting all the workers.

Either way, she sat on her bed in the dark for a while, feeling the outline of her miniature glider, wondering if there was anyway out of this predicament. She couldn't relax enough to sleep, and every time she dozed she immediately jerked awake again; eventually, though, she slept long enough to dream, and when she woke she jumped from her bed to ask the guard outside her door to bring a light-source, as she had a long night of drawing ahead of her.

When morning came around she was led back to the workshop, new drawings in hand, although presenting them on the wall proved difficult; she dropped the pins several times, and Leaf eventually had to do it for her.

"Heat," she told everyone, or at least she tried; her voice was thick, and she found she couldn't raise it above a loud whisper. She cleared her throat several times and tried again. "Heat – heated air currents, actually – carry the glider up higher than cold ones. Yesterday my model glider flew higher than it should have because of the warm drafts in here. Birds use the same idea, and I used it with my glider, to fly long distances. But, I thought – what about something that wasn't a glider, but could catch the heat, anyway, you know?"

The workers didn't, and most of them seemed visibly worried; Sinny didn't know what she looked like after her sleepless night, but it probably wasn't becoming. She took out the small lantern she'd constructed out of thin leaves; there was an opening at the bottom, and a small cradle for a wick underneath. Taking out a striking stone, she lit the wick and then handed the round lantern to the air, where it began to float on its own towards the ceiling. The workers watched the lantern's progress, and then stared at Sinny in disbelief.

"And you figured this all out last night?" said Leaf.

"I got the idea from something my dad tried once," Sinny admitted. "Except his caught on fire." Everyone looked up at the floating lantern in alarm. "Anyways," Sinny continued, "that's my idea."

"You want to make a big lantern?" one of the women asked.

"I want to combine this-" Sinny pointed to the diagram of the plane from the day before, "- with something like the lantern, able to lift itself into the sky."

The workers chatted amongst themselves about the idea, showing the most animation Sinny had seen from them thus far. They began creating models and tossing around ideas, trying to figure out how much of a lantern was needed to lift the enclosed plane, how to make it go forward, and how to make it come back down again.

Sinny fell asleep during the noon-break, and when she woke the workers had almost finished a decent looking model of their lantern plane. There were still plenty of kinks to figure out, but it worked.

The workers were determined to present it to the queen that night, as a show of good faith that her wishes were being carried out quickly and efficiently. Sinny was fading fast though, especially after Leaf insisted she take more medication, and he had to help keep her upright in the audience chamber. The group of workers presented the model to the queen, explaining how it would be operated, and the queen seemed genuinely surprised by what they showed her. She flew down from her throne to examine the model, and beckoned for Lily to join her.

"Not a glider," said the queen. "Not a glider at all; and yet, something better. Much better. This is remarkable." She looked over at Sinny, who was leaning on Leaf's shoulder apart from the group. "You've only been in the workshop for two days, and already you've created the most amazing thing I've ever seen. How did you come up with this?"

Sinny tried to respond, but found she had no voice left. She pointed to her throat and shrugged in apology.

"She's still unwell, your Highness," Leaf explained.

"I see," said the queen, and shifted her attention to Lily. "Your sister's exceeded expectations."

Lily had been staring at Sinny in concern since she entered the room, but now she seemed disappointed – no, Sinny thought, something worse, like she was trying to hide how horrified she was by Sinny's achievement. Sinny's blood ran cold. What had she done wrong?

"We'll start construction immediately," the queen continued, "and begin working out how this model translates to full size. I want all of you to supervise tomorrow," she said to the workers, and then considered Sinny. "Maybe not you. Take her back to the med cell and have a doctor look at her, I can't lose her now."

Leaf began to follow the Queen's orders, but Lily flew up behind him. "I'll take her," she said, and scooped up her sister before Leaf could protest.


	6. Chapter 6

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 6**

**●•●**

Sinny spent the rest of the evening being rehydrated (mostly voluntarily) and proceeded to sleep off copious amounts of medication. Lily was still watching over her when she woke; Sinny found her voice had returned, but she'd developed a hoarse cough, like someone beating a dried-leaf rug. She wasn't tied down anymore, at least, and was given time to recover without being hounded by guards.

"- I didn't expect you to actually create something that would work, I just thought… Sinny?"

Sinny jerked awake. She'd asked Lily what was troubling her, and promptly fallen asleep. "Yeah?"

"Maybe we shouldn't be bothering her," said Leaf, who'd appeared at Sinny's bedside at some point.

"No, go on," said Sinny. She sat up a little more in bed.

"I just… the queen's looking to mobilize her army, she's put a lot of resources into it. And I think you've finally found a means to her end."

Sinny thought about this, rubbing gunk out of her eyes. "So that's what the airship's for."

"I didn't think you'd actually create something that would work out of that stupid glider idea!" Lily stood up to pace, her agitation increasing visibly. "Never in a million seasons! And then you-" She glared at the lantern model Leaf was holding, as though trying to crush it with her mind. "This _thing_. And it works! They're out in the yard right now making one, and the damn thing works!"

"It does?" said Sinny, brightening.

"Don't look so pleased. Why couldn't you just have failed – do you really have to be so damn smart all the time?"

Sinny shrugged. "Can't help it, I guess."

She flinched when Lily looked like she was about to smack her. Leaf discreetly contemplated the nearest exits.

"You really don't get it, do you?" said Lily.

"She's been medicated since she got here," said Leaf. "Cut her some slack."

"What he said," Sinny agreed.

"The queen's looking for new territory for her colony," Lily said, trying to restrain herself. "And where would she find new territory?

"Um… somewhere else?" said Sinny.

"How about another _ant colony's _territory," Lily hissed. "Maybe one on an _island._"

"Oh," said Sinny, considering this. "…Oh! Oh." She turned to Leaf. "Hey, the elders were right, you _were_ scouting for territory to take over."

"Sinny!" Lily said. "At least pretend to be concerned, for Ancestors' sake. Our family's lives are in danger here, and it's going to be on your head if that airship works."

Sinny opened her mouth to say something, and then thought better of it, opting to bite her lower lip instead. She looked at the lantern Leaf was still holding – she'd only had good intentions in creating it, as a way to save the lives of the workers assisting her. How did it go so wrong?

"But, what're we supposed to do about it now?" Sinny said, looking down at her hands.

"I don't know – you're the smart one, remember?" said Lily. There was an awkward silence, besides the mild din of the med cell. "Sinny?"

"I'll need some time to think about this." Sinny had done so much serious thinking in the last few days, it was starting to make her brain ache. She rubbed her head in agitation.

"Don't get her started," Leaf said to Lily. "She'll pull another all-nighter and make herself worse, again."

"It's not like we have time for her to sit around," said Lily. Leaf ignored her, coaxing Sinny into relaxing until she was lying back on the bed. He pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Don't listen to her – you need to rest." Leaf looked at the lantern he was still holding. "You want me to leave this here?"

"Yeah," Sinny said, indicating a corner of the room where he could set it down. She'd already been staring at it, and wondering about it. She pictured it burning.

**●•●**

The sun was out, and there was already an oppressive heat – Sinny was relieved to find it was still fall, at least. She'd been cooped up so long, she felt like seasons had passed.

Unlike the anthill back home, this one was surrounded by barren land, the sparse forests beyond without edible seeds, and earth nearly too hard to dig through. This seemed strange to Sinny, considering she'd traveled through fertile land to get here, but apparently one did not simply pick up and move an ant colony, especially when any earth in traveling distance was too difficult to excavate in a reasonable time period. At least that's what the queen told her, summoning Sinny to follow her through a tour of the grounds. Sinny kept pace with the queen reluctantly.

"The workers do their job as well as can be expected," the queen said, as they observed the line of ants exiting and entering the compound. Few returned with anything edible. "There just isn't much to scavenge these days."

"You're also… harvester ants?" Sinny asked tentatively.

"Like yourself." She gave Sinny the appraising look again. "In fact, we still have a tale here of when the colony split in two, long ago. Our two sister queens, way back when, had a spat - one wished to stay, the other wanted to search for more promising land. Perhaps you can guess where the second queen took part of the colony when she went in search of this promise land?"

Sinny nodded, beginning to tire of rhetorical questions. She half expected the queen to hiss, 'To an _island_,' like Lily would have. The queen continued the tour, stepping through the food line and causing several workers to pause suddenly, running into each other. Sinny hurried through the gap apologetically.

They crossed to where the soldiers were having training exercises, an activity Sinny was familiar with from back home, but not quite in this scale. There were significantly more soldiers than workers, and they all snapped to attention when the queen approached. A tall blue ant ordered a formation; before Sinny understood what was happening, the soldiers were in rows, ready for inspection.

"Your Highness," the ant in charge said with a nod. The queen ignored her, walking the length of the formation and back again, eyes half-lidded, satisfied but not quite impressed. Sinny stood back with the commanding officer, watching in awe. The queen dismissed the soldiers, who went back to their activities in an orderly fashion.

"And what did you think?" the queen asked. Sinny realized she had been staring at the soldiers.

"It's… it was amazing," Sinny said. "And there's so many. But, what do they all do when they're not patrolling?"

"I assume you mean the perimeter," said the queen. "No, my soldiers don't just protect the territory, they protect the workers. They oust unruly behavior and keep the colony running efficiently. How else would we survive in such a harsh environment?"

"But, what about innovation, or letting the workers come up with new ways to deal with the environment?"

The queen shook her head, looking disappointed. "That may be the norm where you come from, but we don't have such luxuries here."

"And yet you're relying on _my_ creation?" said Sinny, pointing in the direction of the yard, where the airship was just in sight. "Isn't that hypocritical?"

The queen seemed amused at the accusation.

"Your colony created you – a colony that could allow a member of the royal family to do as she pleases, and say as she pleases, apparently. You would find no such freedom here. There's none to spare." The queen looked out towards the workers. "However, I _am_ using your talents. I admit that."

"Are you using my sister's?" Sinny asked.

The queen frowned briefly, before tensing her features back to neutrality.

"I'm not sure what she's told you, but your sister's agreed to be my heir. If it isn't obvious, I have no others."

Sinny gasped, and didn't know how to respond.

"You're brilliant, Sinnia, but you're also painfully naïve." The queen shook her head. "I don't think there'd be a place for you here, after the airship is created."

Abruptly, the queen's focus on Sinny slipped away and she took to the sky, leaving Sinny behind. Sinny was about to call after her, but thought better of it; several workers had been watching the exchange nearby, and were still staring at Sinny in horror, no doubt wondering why a short, insignificant worker was addressing their queen in such a way. Sinny shot a look at the workers, and they scattered.

**●•●**

The conversation had been a kind of evaluation, Sinny guessed – the next day she was ordered to the yard to resume her role as overseer, accompanied by several guards who kept an eye on her at a distance.

Sinny's chest warmed a little, knowing the queen still considered her a threat. Her winged sister had no such restrictions, nothing compelling her to behave; when they spoke in the yard or met up after-hours, it felt like Sinny was still in the prison cell with bars between them, and Lily was on the outside looking in. The guards even got testy if Sinny got too close to her sister, which almost caused a scuffle – it was Lily's intervention that kept Sinny from going back to an actual prison cell.

Her work in the yard proved useful; Sinny got to know the airship's structure intimately, and she spent several nights pouring over diagrams. She'd made up her mind to weaken the airship's integrity before its maiden voyage – as the ship's structure was reinforced, this became trickier, and Sinny had to keep track of every modification. Obtaining the right tools for the job was easy – it was timing that would prove trickier.

She was exhausted when she next returned to the yard, and couldn't quite believe what she saw – a second frame being constructed.

"Wait, what's going on?" Sinny asked the nearest worker. "Since when are we making two?"

"Since queen's orders last night," said the worker. He gave her a second look. "Another sleepless night, Sinnia?"

"What? Yeah, I - never mind. Why wasn't I informed?"

"How should I know?" said the worker.

"I'm the overseer – how come I don't get told anything?" Sinny said. The worker shrugged. "Well, I guess that means we're making multiple airships now?"

"That's correct, ma'm," the worker said. He was rapidly losing interest. Sinny wandered towards the construction, getting a look at it from all angles. Not only was a second frame going up, there was a space being prepped for a third. This would definitely take some rethinking. She considered approaching some of the workers from her original think tank, the ones who still said hi but didn't make an effort to actually associate with her, but decided against it; they might be reporting her every conversation to the queen.

Come to think of it, there wasn't anyone she thought she could trust anymore, especially now that her lack of sleep was making her increasingly more paranoid. This also meant she nearly jumped out of her exoskeleton when a rock landed near her and skidded to a stop.

She looked around, trying to decide who was throwing things at her, but the other workers seemed oblivious. A moment later, another rock bounced off the back of her leg, and she spun around in time to see something move by the edge of the compound, where it backed up to the forest. Sinny got the idea someone was trying to get her attention, and it was a testament to her newly fatalistic attitude that she approached the barricade – if a predator was trying to eat her, at least her end would be swift, hopefully.

However, she didn't think predators made a, "Psst!" sound at their prey. Sinny made sure she was out of view of the guards.

"Who's there?" she asked, and a large, dark area she thought was part of the forest moved closer.

"Chica?" it asked.

"Chili?" She couldn't get a good look at him through the fence. "What're you doing here – you shouldn't be here."

"I had to make sure you were alright, man. Did they enslave you or something?"

"Pretty much. On the bright side, I found my sister."

"Oh, well that's something, I guess. Well, what're you thinkin' – are you bustin' out? You need my help?"

"I don't think so, Chili." Sinny shook her head. "I have, uh, business I need to take care of here. I don't think I'm leaving anytime soon."

"Oh." The tarantula sounded truly disappointed. "Look, uh, I didn't mean to leave you, man. I was just doing some hunting, so I left you where you'd fallen asleep, and when I got back you were gone."

"It's okay, it's not your fault. You need to get out of here, Chili, before they find you."

"Not without you, chica."

"_Chili_," Sinny hissed. "I appreciate the thought, but please. Who knows what they'll do if they catch you? Go anywhere, go back to the circus if you can."

"Okay, but I'll come back for you."

"Don't, just go."

She heard the tarantula huff to himself, but then he turned and tromped his way back into the forest. Sinny watched after him, until she was suddenly grabbed from behind and turned around.

"Where you think you're going, missy?" said the guard.

"No where." Sinny tried to jerk her arm free from his grasp. "I was just taking a break."

"There are no unauthorized breaks." He began to drag her back to the yard. "You're getting a report for this."

"See if I care," said Sinny, stomping on the guard's foot and kicking the back of his knee. He went down just as the other guards ran over to assist, and Sinny was knocked to the ground next to the fallen guard. They kicked her several times, mostly in the face, and then they suddenly backed off. Sinny stayed curled up on the ground for a while, waiting for more.

"She attacked first," one of the guards said at a distance. "She's a safety concern."

"I don't care," said Lily. "You're not taking her anywhere – I'll deal with her." A moment later Lily was at Sinny's side, leaning over to get a better look at her. "Sinny, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking they should keep their grubby hands off me." Sinny coughed into the dirt. Lily helped pull her upright, and groaned when she saw the state of her sister's face.

"You really need to tone it down," Lily said, wiping away the blood that was dripping down the side of Sinny's head. "I can't get you out of every situation, especially if you lose your position as overseer, you know that."

"Yeah," Sinny said, sighing.

"Then _behave_." Lily turned to the nearest worker. "Can I get a medic over here? Sinny needs some bandaging."

"I'm fine," Sinny said as she began to tip over.

"Oh, no you don't." Lily held her firmly, and helped the medic clean and wrap her head. "Now, you sit here and get some rest. I need to sweet talk the guards into giving you down time _and_ not imprisoning you. _Again._"

Lily threw her arms up in disgust and went back to the outraged guards. Sinny watched the forest for a while, but saw no movement – at least the guards had been distracted long enough to not notice a tarantula exiting the territory.


	7. Chapter 7

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 7**

**●•●**

Not long before the third airship's completion, the colony gathered for an official update on securing the territory of Ant Island. Sinny's face had healed enough to be presentable, so she found herself invited. Surprisingly, she was given a place of honor next to Lily behind the presentation stage.

The anthill's main hub was a large dome-shaped area with enough room to crowd in the colony's occupants, while still keeping a space clear for presenting. How anyone behind the first row was supposed to see anything was beyond Sinny.

As the workers filed in, Sinny recognized Leaf and the former think tank members setting up drawings and models on the stage – _her_ drawings and models. Considering she'd only had an off-hand invitation to attend, she surmised they weren't going to have her take much credit beyond overseeing construction. Leaf did give her sympathetic glances now and then, which was something, and the boy who'd played with her glider model approached her like an old friend, chatting away about how cool the ships were.

Everyone stood up when the queen took to the stage and crossed to her own place of honor, Lily pulling Sinny up with her and shoving her back down again once the queen was seated. There were some speeches from head workers who seemed unrelated to the project, and Sinny immediately dozed off on Lily's shoulder. Lily tried several times to wake her, and finally succeeded.

"You need to stay awake," Lily whispered, pushing her sister upright. "The entire colony can see us."

"Mm," Sinny replied. She leaned back, trying to rest her eyes while appearing aware. It must not have been very successful, because the next thing she knew she was being shaken into consciousness again.

"_Sinny_," Lily hissed. "You _need_ to stay awake, I'm serious."

Sinny blinked and looked around – the think tank was already in the middle of their presentation, explaining the logistics of the ship's ability to fly. The colony seemed in awe, and applauded heartily when the explanation concluded. Sinny yawned, clapping politely.

"And now," said the queen, approaching center stage as the think tank exited, "I think we should thank Princess Lily and our construction overseer, Sinnia – even if this event doesn't seem to interest her enough to keep her awake."

Sinny went rigid as the audience laughed amid scattered applause – okay, maybe she deserved that, she thought. Lily cleared her throat, meaningfully.

"However," the queen continued, hushing the crowd, "in a precognizant act of redemption, she's volunteered to accompany the airships' siege on Ant Island, as the Chief Mechanical Overseer."

The crowd appreciated this a little more than Sinny thought they should have, although the queen did have a way of making it sound like a big deal. Sinny took a moment to process the idea, and then went wide-eyed. She looked at Lily, who shrugged to absolve all guilt.

"Our flight begins in two days," said the queen. "I will be personally accompanying the troops to Ant Island, where we will reclaim the territory for ourselves. Princess Lily will remain here, acting as queen in my stead."

Sinny looked at Lily again, who didn't seem surprised – of course she wouldn't, Sinny thought, they were obviously in cahoots.

The presentation ended not with song or dance, but rather with a reading of the rules, which the entire colony recited along with, even the children. Sinny looked dumb-founded at the whole thing, despite several elbow jabs from Lily, an effort to get her to participate.

**●•●**

A celebratory dinner for the think tank and the airships' head coordinators proceeded the event, which seemed planned specifically to torture Sinny. It dragged on needlessly, and she fell asleep face-first on the table several times, only to be prodded awake by her sister.

She was prepared to drag herself off to bed after the meal's conclusion, but was ordered to stay where she was until the rest of the party filed out. Sinny was too tired to be nervous, and she stared at the queen, who decidedly did not look back. Finally, the leaf doors were swung shut after the last guest exited; even the guards left the room, although they were surely stationed right outside. It was silent, except for the queen setting her cup on the table.

"If these ships of yours really work, Sinnia, you'll be doing this colony a great service."

"I won't be doing _my_ colony a great service," Sinny said, looking down at her plate.

"I trust they _will_ work?" said the queen, and Sinny went rigid.

"I'll be there to find out, right?"

"Hm." The queen picked up her cup again, swirling what was left of the contents. "I realize you understand what's happening. Bringing you is a precaution. I ask again: they will work? You have no qualms joining us on the flight?"

"They will work," Sinny said, looking up at the queen.

"Alright then," said the queen. She still looked doubtful. "Have my doctors been doing their job? You still look ill."

"It's not their fault, it's just me." Sinny shrugged.

"I wasn't so different at your age – I wasn't expected to get anywhere as queen." She looked suddenly wistful, and Sinny couldn't help but stare. "I was thought to be too weak, physically. I wasn't even expected to grow wings."

Sinny gaped. "But… you _did_."

"Eventually."

"When? How?" Sinny tried not to be so openly enthusiastic, but she couldn't help herself. The queen seemed amused.

"As an adult, nature took its course. I was finally an heir to the throne, but not a moment before." The stern look returned. "Don't get your hopes up, though – there's no guarantee you'll grow your own."

Sinny sighed; she'd been too caught up in the idea.

"You're clever, though, I'll give you that," the queen continued. "If your sister wasn't so competent, I'd say you'd be the worthier heir. Only just. Not for my throne, of course, but maybe your home colony's, if they appreciate such unconventionality."

"Your Highness, is that a compliment?" said Sinny, a little more brash than she meant to.

"Such a mouth. Take back what I said." The queen looked more amused than Sinny had ever seen her, though.

"Do we really have to do this?" said Sinny. She figured it was now or never. "We can still stop this, find some other way to help the colony. I know a thing or two about grain, I could look at the crops nearby, or survey the soil."

"I know what's best for this colony," said the queen, her amusement fading. "It will stagnate if we wait around any longer. I've been planning this siege since I ascended the throne, and I'll see it through."

"But…" Sinny floundered, losing her nerve.

"We're done here." The queen gestured towards the door, where two guards entered to take Sinny away. Sinny got up and walked herself out.

**●•●**

She slept like the dead, not stirring until noon the next day. Her last day, she thought, as she stretched and rolled over. It took her a moment to realize Lily was in her cell and looking down at her.

"Yeah?" said Sinny, her eyes not opening completely.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing," said Lily. "You slept through two meals."

"Did I?" Sinny said, rubbing her eyes.

Lily sat down on the end of the bed.

"You okay?" She felt Sinny's forehead. "You looked really out of it yesterday."

"Yeah, I was just tired." Sinny waved away Lily's hand.

"You're missing the preparations for the flight. I, uh, I want to ask you something." Lily's voice dropped to a whisper, barely audible. "Did you do something to the ships?" Sinny paused, trying to think of an answer, but then she looked away. Lily seemed to understand. "But, you're joining the flight, anyway?"

"I have to," Sinny said.

"I guess, but…"

"Our family's at stake – I have to do this."

"Okay. Yeah." Lily looked towards the door. "They'll be missing me – I'll meet up with you later."

Sinny spent what remained of her afternoon milling about the yard, watching the ships as they were taken into the air and brought down again. The first one was largest, and the last smallest, as well as most maneuverable. The part of each ship still referred to as the lantern was twice as large as the passenger carriage, and was a decoupage of dry leaves – it was also a fire hazard if there ever was one. The only safety precaution was 'don't set the darn thing on fire,' and a few buckets of water brought along. It wouldn't do much good in a real emergency.

The carriage itself was interlaced twig framing, walled with leaves pasted together. The exits were at the top, where the ants manning the fires were stationed, as well as the ant controlling the fin. There were two wings near the fin, each one controlled by an ant, creating just enough air current to go forward. Rather than mimicking the flapping of a bird in flight, Sinny looked to inspiration from flying beetles, creating wings that came out 90 degrees from the sides of the carriage, and then rested flat against it. The effect was a little silly, but it did the trick.

She heard Lily buzz up behind her before she saw her, and didn't bother turning around. Something was suddenly thrust in her face.

"These are yours," Lily said, shaking it for emphasis. It being the goggles Sinny made in the workshop one day, on a whim. Sinny took them and held them up.

"Oh. I thought these were confiscated."

"They were," said Lily. "But, I borrowed them."

The goggles didn't work too well, visibility-wise, but Sinny strapped them to her head anyway, above her eyes where they could be pulled down.

"Well, uh, thanks." As Sinny was fussing with the strap, Lily suddenly kissed her cheek.

"I'm glad you're my sister, you know that right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Sinny felt a little flustered. Despite herself, she immediately thought of Lily being an heir to this colony's throne, of their muddled loyalties. Still, even now, Sinny didn't know what to make of it all. "I also appreciate our sisterly-ness."

"You're not very good at this, are you?" said Leaf, who'd wandered over during the public display of affection. "You princesses have a moment? I wanted to introduce my wife, June, and our daughter, Daisy."

The tan female ant standing next to him smiled and said hello; she was holding their small, swaddled blue daughter, who was little older than a pupa.

"My husband told me you were the one who saved him," June said to Sinny. "He said you stormed into the council chamber and pleaded on his behalf when no one else would."

"Well, uh, he exaggerates," said Sinny, feeling a little embarrassed. She felt even more embarrassed when June also planted a kiss on her cheek.

"That's for saving him," she said.

Sinny felt both giddy and flustered now.

"You have a very pretty wife," Sinny told Leaf, still smiling at June. Leaf looked shocked.

"All right, come back to us, Sinny," Lily said, shaking her sister's shoulder. Leaf ushered his family away, maybe with a little too much haste, and Lily waited for them to leave. "I need to know: how long are the ships going to last?"

"What? Oh." Sinny shook her head. "Uh, an hour or so, at the most. Hopefully." She looked up at the ships, as though for affirmation.

"Okay. You be careful." Lily was still gripping Sinny's shoulder. Sinny nodded, not sure if it was a promise she could keep.

**●•●**

There wasn't much ceremony when it finally happened. Sinny was taken out of bed in the early hours of the morning, and delivered to the yard where the airships were being loaded. The queen watched as the last of the soldiers filed in, and then signaled for Sinny to join them. Sinny climbed up the side of the carriage, pausing to look out at the workers who'd gathered to watch, but she didn't spot Lily.

As she hopped down into the interior of the carriage, Sinny realized she wasn't being supervised, and made her way up to the cockpit, where the pilot was still making checks. For now she could only see the yard and the grass through the windows, but before long there would be a lot more to see.

When the co-pilot entered, he seemed miffed that Sinny was taking up what little room there was, but he didn't say as much. The queen must've given the signal, because before long there was a lurch as the carriage began to ascend skyward.

Sinny stumbled back into the wall, not sure what she was expecting; the co-pilot looked over his shoulder at her, but still said nothing. They were obviously ready for this, from numerous test flights, and before long the carriage was steady and moving forward. Sinny suddenly found she was nauseous in the confined space, and crawled back up and out the top, joining the ants who were manning the fires under the lantern.

From here she could see everything, like she could from her glider – the hills, the forest below them. She even got a glimpse of P.T.'s circus in the distance. In the early light, the forest below them was starting to be bathed in orange, the sky a murky, pre-dawn grey. Sinny ran along the carriage to the very front, still amazed that they were in the air and moving forward steadily; there was barely any breeze to knock them about. The ship she was on was in the lead, with the other two following behind in formation – Sinny wondered what they must look like to other bugs on the ground.

The ship lurched suddenly as Sinny stared off into the horizon, knocking her off her feet and sliding half-way down the side of the carriage. She managed to grab hold of the surface and pulled herself back up, as one of the fire-tenders called out, "You okay down there?"

"Yeah," she replied, scrambling to the top and hugging the floor for a while. She'd almost forgotten why she was here, and for a moment thought it was already happening.

Catching her breath, she gave a little salute to the concerned fire-tender and hopped back into the carriage.

Not long after the preliminary flight tests had been completed, Sinny began spending her evenings sneaking into the yard and weakening key structural supports. Her modifications should be, she thought, invisible to the naked eye, but unable to withstand more than an hour or so of flight. She hoped.

The soldiers were seated along the walls of the carriage's interior, chatting or simply staring. The queen was in the cockpit, so Sinny discreetly made her way to the supports holding the carriage to the lantern. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, perhaps merely to peer at her handiwork, nod to herself, and accept her fate. Instead, she found the beam not only wasn't weakened, it had been completely replaced at some point. Sinny looked the beam up and down, glanced over at the adjacent beam, and back at the beam in front of her, gaping. This certainly wasn't something she'd planned for.

She glanced over at the cockpit, and found the queen watching her, knowingly. Sinny stiffened, and then headed to the back of the carriage, where the supplies were kept. There was a flimsy barrier put up between the supplies and the main interior, to keep the packages from tumbling into the soldiers, and Sinny was alone, standing in the middle and looking down at the weapons and bundled food.

For a moment, she could see the ships reaching their destination, hovering over the early morning workers on Ant Island; ladders thrown down, hostages taken by force, detractors shot down. She hoped Ant Island couldn't be taken so easily, but she didn't know for sure. And if they succeeded, Sinny would have to watch as her home was infiltrated, her mother killed to be replaced by a new queen.

Sinny felt herself going cold and dizzy from the horror of the idea – she had to take several deep breaths to bring herself back. As she did, the queen disrupted her solitude, standing in the barrier's opening.

"Stupid plan, stupid girl," the queen said. "You thought a few modifications would go unnoticed? Your plan was completely obvious – your lying even more so. I had the beams replaced not long after you'd finished your little sabotage. But, at least you're honorable enough to risk going down with your own ships. Admittedly, I wasn't expecting that."

"I won't let this happen," said Sinny.

"I don't think you have a choice," said the queen. "We're nearly half-way to our destination, and I have two spare ships. I also have the majority of my army with me – what do _you_ have?"

Sinny looked around at the supplies, seriously considering the question. What _did_ she have?

"Nothing," said Sinny, still scanning the room. "I have absolutely nothing."

"I'm glad we're in agreement," the queen said. "Now, behave yourself the rest of the flight, and maybe I'll let you have a last glimpse of your family on Ant Island."

Sinny restrained herself, her hands twitching at the idea of strangling the queen right here and now; she forced herself to look down at her feet, trying to appear timid, and the queen seemed satisfied, leaving to return to the cockpit.

Sinny had plenty, as long as she could figure out what to do with it – she had an army's worth of supplies at her feet, after all.

First, she tore open one of the bundles, leaving the grain spilled on the floor, and gathered the fibrous packing material instead. Then she scanned the line-up of long bows against the wall, choosing one that looked her size while still being tall enough to get some distance. One stood out, made of a rich, red wood quite unlike the others. She held the bow out at arm's length and pulled the string taut – she wasn't as strong as most ants, but she thought she could still get a lot of force out of her shots.

Satisfied, she put bits of packing material on the heads of several arrows, wore the quiver over her shoulder, and headed up to the top of the carriage.

She wasn't sure what the fire-tenders would think of her, appearing next to them with a bow and arrow, if they'd think anything at all, but she tried not to dally all the same. Sizing up the closest ship, she used the lantern's heat source to light the tip of an arrow on fire, loaded it, and shot at the neighboring lantern.

It plunked into the base of the dry leaves, the flame catching and sending up a small smoke signal. Satisfied, Sinny tried again – the next arrow missed its mark, and Sinny cursed, setting up a third arrow. By now the fire-tenders were staring at her, and after Sinny's next arrow hit they got the idea she was staging a mutiny. The closest tried to grab her, but Sinny kicked the back of his knee and hit him in the face with the end of the bow, and he promptly tumbled, disappearing over the side of the ship. Sinny wasn't too worried about him – her fall from the glider had been at a comparable height.

By now the flames of the neighboring ship were licking away at the lantern and the entire ship was losing height; Sinny turned her attention to the ship behind her and landed several arrows in succession. A few ants anticipated this, climbing up the lantern to stifle the flames.

She'd just landed a fourth arrow when the bow was wrenched from her grasp – she'd forgotten about the second fire-tender, and he'd returned with the queen in tow.

"What are you-" the queen sputtered, looking at the bow and the flames consuming the airships. "You little wretch!"

She struck at Sinny, who tumbled close to the edge, her arrows scattering. The queen continued to stare at her sinking airships, looking dumb-founded by the whole ordeal.

"I told you they were a fire hazard," Sinny coughed out, and got kicked in the stomach for her troubles.

"I ought to make you take a flaming arrow to the chest for this," said the queen, picking Sinny up by the neck. "Or better yet-"

She flew Sinny over to the flame under the lantern, holding her to the fire until it began to singe her exoskeleton. Sinny was too shocked to comprehend what was happening at first, until the flames began to eat away at her shoulder and part of her face. The queen didn't seem satisfied until Sinny screamed in agony, and then she finally took her away from the fire and held her out over the side of the ship. Sinny could smell her own charred exoskeleton – it was bitter, somewhat like a decaying leaf or grain kernel – and the air was starting to bite into her exposed wounds.

"My other ships might not make it to Ant Island, but I will," the queen continued. "I want you to know that before you die. All your efforts were in vain." Sinny was choking by this point, and couldn't squeak out any sarcastic remarks. "Oh, and what I said about not growing wings before I was an adult – I lied. There was never any hope for you."

The queen's grip relaxed briefly to let this sink in – Sinny took the opportunity to bite the queen's hand.

Cursing, the queen let Sinny drop over the side of the ship.


	8. Chapter 8

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 8**

●•●

Sinny had a feeling of déjà vu as she fell, watching the ship above her travel steadily upwards. It seemed to be the inevitable result of all of her efforts to take to the air – at least she was going to be cushioned by the forest again. Or maybe her burns were more extensive than she thought, and her body would simply fall apart when she hit the ground.

She waited to find out, when the ground came up to meet her a little too soon, and she was suddenly traveling upwards again. Sinny didn't think this was how dying was supposed to work – that you were literally sent straight up to the Ancestors' anthill in the sky before you left your body – and then she wondered why she was questioning how the afterlife worked; and then she opened her eyes and found she was in Lily's arms.

"Lily! You came to save me how did you know?" Sinny practically screamed into her sister's ear.

"Well, I didn't exactly _know_ you were going to be flung from an airship, but I saw someone falling and figured it was you."

In sheer joy, Sinny hugged her sister tighter, and then squealed in pain as her sores made themselves known again.

"What's wrong?" Lily paused, hovering in midair. "Sinny, your exoskeleton, it's…"

"A little singed," said Sinny, not daring to examine the wounds. "Look, the queen's ship is still intact. She, uh, sabotaged my sabotage, in a sense, so I had to improvise."

"Oh," Lily said, taking another look at the descending airships. "I was wondering if 'burn everything' had been your master plan this whole time."

"It might as well have been," Sinny replied, feeling a little miffed at all her hard work gone to waste. "We need to get back up there and stop that ship."

"Are you sure? You're not exactly in, uh, the best shape here."

"Yes, I'm sure!"

**●•●**

There was no one on top of the airship when they landed – even the fire-tender and wing-flappers were absent. Sinny stepped down from Lily's arms gingerly, and found her legs still held her. Lily moved to examine the carriage's nearest entrance hole, but looked back when Sinny didn't follow her.

"You were planning this the whole time?" said Sinny. "To meet up with the airships here?"

"Of course," said Lily. "I was always going to help you take them down."

"But, you…" Sinny paused. She'd doubted Lily this entire time; in fact, she'd been sure Lily had been on the queen's side. "You never said anything."

"Did I need to? Besides, I couldn't risk anyone overhearing us, how would that look? It would've spoiled our plans." Lily squinted a little, as though examining Sinny's doubtful thoughts. "You… you weren't sure, were you? If I was really siding with the queen or not?"

"I-" Sinny faltered. "What was I supposed to think? I didn't know why you went to that colony in the first place, or what the queen had promised you, or if you were really willing to mutiny. How was I supposed to know?"

"Maybe because I'm your sister," Lily hissed. "Or is that not good enough? You really think I was going sell out our family?"

"No," Sinny said, feeling her stomach drop. "Of course not, but…"

"I never, not _once,_ doubted you, Sinny." Lily thrust her finger dangerously close to her sister's face; Sinny went a little cross-eyed trying to keep track of it. "Maybe you could pay me the same courtesy for once in your life."

Sinny opened her mouth to reply, but closed it again, deciding to just shut up. Lily shot her a look over her shoulder as she turned back to the entrance hole, the sort of royal glare that made Sinny wilt on the inside. Or maybe she was just going faint from her injuries.

"Are we going to figure out a new plan or what?" Lily said, her voice subdued. Sinny was about to reply when she thought she heard wings fluttering overhead, and paused to listen. "Sinny!" Lily called out, just as Sinny was put into a chokehold from behind.

"I was wondering when the other one would show up," said the queen. "I gave you everything, Lily."

"I never wanted it," Lily said, stepping carefully towards the queen. "Let me have Sinny back, and we'll leave you alone."

"Neither of you are very good liars." The queen began to edge towards the flame again, and Sinny's body panicked at the idea of impending pain, tears streaming down her face involuntarily. Lily looked between the flame and her sister, and seemed to understand.

"Then we'll both go with you," said Lily. "We'll stay confined to the carriage."

The queen laughed. "Princess, you've both proven yourselves enemies, beyond redemption. I'm going to burn your younger sister while you watch, and then you can decide what to do with her body."

"I'm the older sister," Sinny choked out. The queen frowned at her captive.

"What?"

"I was… hatched first," Sinny said with what little air she had left.

The queen sighed, growing more annoyed.

"It doesn't matter which one's older, you're dying either way."

"I hatched too early… that's why…" Sinny couldn't get anymore out as the queen's grip tightened.

"Look, I really _don't care_ about your life story. All right? Just shut up, you puny, insufferable twit."

The queen looked back up in time to see Lily coming at her with a torch made of packing material, left over from Sinny's scattered arrows. She threw sparks in the queen's eyes, and then lit her wings on fire. The queen dropped Sinny, who fell to the floor – Sinny's vision had darkened to pin points, and she couldn't see or hear what was happening at first. When her hearing came back, the queen was screaming, and Sinny turned over in time to watch the smoldering queen lose her balance over the side of the airship and disappear.

It was silent for a moment, as both sisters held their breath, but the queen was gone. Lily helped Sinny to her feet.

"See, I never doubted you," Sinny huffed out, still trying to regulate her breathing.

"Um…" Lily pointed behind Sinny, and she turned to find that several soldiers had poked their heads up out of the carriage. Why they hadn't been summoned earlier was beyond Sinny.

"It was an accident?" Sinny said, shrugging.

The soldiers disappeared, as though to confer, and then they reappeared again, crawling up to the top to join the sisters.

"According to colony policy," said the commanding officer, "whoever overthrows the old queen can establish herself as the new one." The CO looked at both Sinny and Lily in turn, unsure whom she was addressing. "Which one of you is claiming responsibility?"

"Uh…" Sinny looked at Lily, who shrugged.

"We don't even know if she's dead," said Lily. "Isn't this a little hasty?"

"Not during war time," said the CO. "Otherwise, we have no one commanding the siege."

"There is no more siege!" said Sinny, her patience wearing thin. "The mission is aborted; tell the pilot to turn us around."

"Yes, your Highness," the CO said, bowing slightly.

"What, no I didn't…" said Sinny.

A nearby soldier plucked the tiara from Lily's head and set it on Sinny's. Lily looked amused.

"Before you start carrying out orders, her Majesty needs medical attention," said Lily. "Quickly."

**●•●**

There was a flurry of activity as Sinny was carried back into the ship's carriage. The medic cleansed her burns, which hurt like nothing had before, and then they were wrapped up, which hurt even more. Sinny managed to scream bloody murder the entire time, questioning the medic's ability to treat burns in very colorful language. The soldiers looked impressed at their new queen's vocabulary.

Sinny was thoroughly miserable, her arm, thorax, and half her face wrapped up and stinging like crazy, when Lily approached her again.

"I'm going to die like this," said Sinny. "Half my exoskeleton is peeled away, and it's never coming back."

"The medic says it'll heal eventually, if you don't aggravate it," Lily said. "Do you really think we should turn around? Why not have them drop us off first?"

"Oh… I don't know. I suppose. Do we really want to show them the exact location of Ant Island, though?"

"Well, no, but how am I supposed to get you home like this?" She gestured at Sinny's woeful, bandage-wrapped state. "You're pathetic now, you're going to be worse on the road."

"Maybe they should just drop us off now." Sinny sighed and looked at the tiara, which had been placed by her singed goggles next to the makeshift gurney. "I only got to be queen for a half hour."

"Oh, _now_ you want to be queen. At least you had a good run, and gained some admirers."

Lily looked at the sad assortment of gifts gracing Sinny's vicinity, mostly food offerings and a sword or two, to honor her hasty coronation.

"I don't know, Lily – this colony needs a new start. It needs a complete change in policy, new laws, a new way of doing things. It needs ingenuity to pick itself back up."

"You think it needs_ you_, huh?" Lily shook her head. "If anything, it needs both of us, but our colony can't afford to lose two princesses at once."

Sinny thought for a while, lying back on her gurney and staring at the ceiling.

"It needs…" Sinny sat up again, gesturing to her closest attendant. "Tell the pilot to set us down here, right away."

Sinny's disembarkment came with a flurry of protest – no one wanted the injured queen traveling in the forest. Sinny tried to reassure everyone, but found she was no good at speeches, and instead she beckoned the commanding officer to step forward. The CO gaped and did as she was told.

"What's your name?" Sinny asked.

"Maven," the CO replied.

"Maven?" Sinny repeated, trying not to sound disappointed. "Well, uh, Maven, unfortunately I'm unable to fulfill my duties as queen of your colony, for many reasons. So, I'm crowning you the new queen."

She placed the tiara on Maven's head. The poor CO looked terrified.

"But, your Highness, I'm not a…"

"It doesn't matter. I've seen the way your men respect you, Maven, and I think you have leadership potential. However, as I also happen to be a princess of Ant Island, I propose a coalition between our colonies."

There was confused murmuring from the soldiers.

"Is she allowed to do that?" a nearby soldier said to Lily.

"Provided you turn this airship around, pick up your ship-wrecked comrades, and return home, I will have my colony send an ambassador, or a team of some kind, to help your colony rebuild in the wake of this… uh, incident."

"She means ask our parents to send a team," Lily whispered to the nearby soldier.

There was another murmur, this time of genuine discussion on the matter. The new Queen Maven looked around at her subjects, still agape.

"O-okay," said Maven, shaking Sinny's hand. "If you can help us, I'd be glad to accept your offer, Princess."

**●•●**

New queen in tow, the airship ascended and turned a clumsy circle, retreating from whence it came, as promised. Lily flew up to the top of a grass blade, watching it go. Satisfied they weren't returning, she rejoined her sister on the ground.

"What if the old queen's still out there?" Sinny said.

"I don't think she can do much harm now," Lily replied.

"What if she tries to reclaim her colony?"

Lily sighed. "You're the old queen now, Sinny. You rightfully gave Maven your title – I think it's up to that colony now to keep its new leadership."

Picking up her sister, Lily flew them the rest of the way to Ant Island. The airship had been more off-course than they thought, and it was late afternoon before they spotted their home up ahead. Lily stopped to rest on the opposite side of the canyon, watching for birds but seeing none.

The tree was nearly bare; it wasn't too long before the rainy season. Even from the opposite side of the Riverbed Canyon, the two sisters could hear the occasional buzz of saws carried across from the workers felling stalks. Life had gone on without them, Sinny realized. She was suddenly apprehensive, and looked at Lily, trying to convey what she felt. Lily smiled reassuringly, and then picked up Sinny again before she could say anything.

They landed on the edge of the clearing and looked around at the workers still going about their business. No one noticed them at first – a moment later someone started yelling their names, yelling that the princesses were back. Work was abandoned, food dropped in place as the workers gathered and approached Lily and Sinny as though they'd never seen anything like them before. Then the masses suddenly went quiet – Sinny heard her mother's voice, no doubt in a confused fury over the workers' sudden abandonment of anything resembling order.

"What _is_ going on here?" Atta yelled at the edge of the crowd. "If there's no immediate danger, get back to your harvesting!"

Sinny pushed through the crowd, dragging her sister with her, and suddenly they were face to face with Atta. They stared at each other for a tense moment – Atta went pale, and Sinny was worried she was going to faint.

"Girls..?" Atta said, quietly.

"Mom." Sinny gave her a little smile. Atta stepped forward, and then stopped, noticing their audience.

"Didn't I say to get back to harvesting?" Atta called at them, and the workers dispersed, taking their time going about their business. Sinny found it hard to breathe for a moment – this wasn't the touching reunion she was expecting.

"What happened?" Atta asked, looking at Sinny's bandages.

"I got burned a little, but it should be fine. Hopefully."

"Mom, we're sorry," Lily said quickly. Atta took a deep breath.

"Do either of you have any idea…" She stopped and looked at Lily for a moment, and then her gaze turned to Sinny. Sinny's blood ran cold. "And _you_. How could you? Just disappear like that? I hope it was worth what you put your father and I through."

"I know what I did was terrible, and I'm sorry, mom. But, I had to find Lily."

"I wouldn't have made it back without her, mom," Lily said. "You should punish me, not her."

Sinny gave her sister a side-ways glance, wondering if she was just exaggerating for their mother's sake.

"You're both going to be punished, after Sinny's injuries are looked at." Atta seemed about to give in and hug them both, but she hesitated again. Mostly in response to a cry in the distance; a moment later, Flik suddenly burst into the clearing, tossing aside spare harvester parts and tools. He embraced his girls, making Sinny wince in pain; then he paused, looked at them both, and hugged them again.

"Dad, please don't cry," Lily said, looking embarrassed.

"We were so worried," said Flik. He wiped his eyes, not at all discreetly. "Atta, we need to prepare something to welcome them back."

"I don't know, Flik. I think these two are in a lot of trouble."

Lily and Sinny did their best to look pathetic. Flik circled behind them and pushed them closer to Atta.

"They look plenty sorry to me," said Flik, adding his own pathetic look. Atta sighed.

"All right, fine, we'll give them a great big hoopla. And _then_ they're grounded. Forever."

**●•●**

Incidentally, the circus arrived that night, to everyone's surprise. Or, at least the runaway stars and their tarantula arrived – apparently in their search for Sinny, they came across some downed airships and a great many ant soldiers, who told them an ant matching Sinny's description was headed towards Ant Island.

This came as a shock to Atta and Flik, who'd opted to let their daughters tell their story the next morning. During dinner, Sinny insisted Chili take a place of honor next to her, which made everyone at the hoopla nervous. Sinny managed to eat some of her dinner before she fell asleep face first in it, and when she woke up she was in the med cell being stripped of her bandages. She tried to fight off the nurses at first, and had to be restrained.

"Please, princess, we just need to take a look," said Dr. Flora, who was hanging back at a safe distance during the procedure. Sinny continued to scream in agony as they took the bandages away from her face. Dr. Flora gaped openly at the burns, and then she whispered to one of the nurses.

"I want to see it," Sinny said.

The nurses hesitated, but Sinny insisted, and one of them handed her a reflective surface. The exoskeleton on the left-hand side of her face was eaten away, with dark scabs starting to form. Most of her coloring around the burns was a molted mess of white, blue, and black. The scarring continued down her neck, ending at her elbow.

"We'll heal it up as best we can, dear, you'll see," said Dr. Flora.

Sinny handed the reflective surface back, not sure what to think. Even if it did heal up, her face was still ruined – would she still be treated the same? Sinny was worried, but she tried not to think about it.

The sisters unloaded their story to their parents the next morning, Lily taking the reins as usual, considering the sorry state Sinny was in. Learning that their daughters were held prisoner by a rival colony and then thwarted said colony's plans to take over Ant Island made Flik and Atta change their minds a bit about punishing them – only a bit. Atta was certainly surprised to learn that Sinny had offered a coalition to the other colony, but she agreed plans would be made to send a party to reach out, and maybe even offer trade like they had initially.

The circus bugs only stayed the night, and then had to be off again the next day before P.T. exploded in fury over their absence. Chili went with them, to Sinny's dismay – she'd tried to talk him into staying with the colony, but no one seemed to appreciate the idea, so she hugged his foreleg and cried until Flik pulled her off. And then she had an idea, and returned just in time to give Chili one of her spare backpacks, which he wore proudly as he left the island. Sinny's family tried not to look too stunned at the sight of a tarantula wearing a tiny backpack.

**●•●**

As everyone else milled around the clearing and chatted, Sinny ran down to the edge of the canyon, watching the circus bugs take to the air, lifting Chili up and over the canyon before setting him down again, not willing to carry him the whole way. Chili looked back one last time, and waved at Sinny, and then he was gone.

The circus bugs soon disappeared beyond the forest, and Sinny sat and watched the canyon for a while. A buzz of wings interrupted her solitude, and Sinny waited for Lily to approach and bend down next to her.

"You scared mom," Lily said. "She thought you'd run off to the circus again."

Sinny chuckled. "No, not just yet. Do you think mom's going to make good on the coalition?"

"I don't see why not," said Lily, taking a seat. "You made a good case – she might even let _you_ go as the ambassador. I overheard her talking to the elders."

"Really?" said Sinny. "Maybe we could both go - I'm not really keen on making the trip on foot again."

"If only you still had one of those airships, I wouldn't have to carry you. It's exhausting after a while."

Sinny didn't respond at first, getting lost in the idea. "An airship? I _could_ make another one, couldn't I?"

"Sinny, no, I was just kidding," said Lily, eyeing her sister wearily. She stood up before the idea could flourish, helping her sister to her feet, careful not to grab hold of her injuries. "We better get back before mom and dad send another search party."

"Yeah, okay." Sinny let Lily lead her away from the canyon, casting one last look over her shoulder at the forest beyond. She nearly stopped to look again – she thought she saw someone, someone ant-sized watching her between the stalks, but then they were gone.

Maybe it was just her imagination.

●•●

Author's note: Even though this feels like a conclusion, I decided to write another chapter as a bit of an afterword. So, no, we're not done, yet. Also, if you're interested, I'll be adding bits of info about ABL2 in my profile now and then, including updates about the sequel I'm currently writing.


	9. Chapter 9

A Bug's Life 2: Out from Ant Island

**Chapter 9**

●•●

"She's down here – I'm going in!"

A little girl came sliding into the hollow clover stalk-turned-clubhouse, nearly landing on Sinny who had been crouching near the entrance. Sinny dropped her notes in surprise.

"This is _our_ clubhouse, you know," said the girl. As she did, Dot slid in, followed by several young ants Sinny recognized as the Blueberry troop her aunt led. Sinny hurried to gather up her leaf-parchments as the girls giggled and stumbled into each other.

"Found you," Dot said, smiling.

"I was just, uh, borrowing your clubhouse," said Sinny. "I swear I'm not playing hooky, I already finished my work today. Please don't tell my mom she'll just find something else for me to do -"

"It's _okay_, Sin," said Dot. "I'm not gonna tell. You're not as stealthy as you think you are, though – Bramble noticed you sneak away." The girl who was the first to burst in on Sinny looked very pleased with herself, putting her tiny fists on her hips.

"I told Princess Dot you were probably going to our clubhouse again," said Bramble. "Like you usually do."

Sinny frowned. "I just wanted somewhere private to look at my notes."

One of the girls picked up a stray parchment. "Look, she's building weird things again. Is this one supposed to fly, too?"

A second girl snatched the diagram, turning it up side down.

"My mom said Princess Sinny's machines don't fly, they fall – they just take a long time doing it."

Sinny felt like clutching her diagrams to her chest and crying. Dot took the stray parchment and handed it back to her niece. "I hate to break it to you, Sin, but Atta's been looking for you. If you don't get back soon, she'll know something's up."

Taking Sinny's hand, Dot led her out of the stalk, the Blueberries on their heels. Sinny rolled up her parchments and stuffed them into her tool bag. As she had been for the past several weeks, Sinny'd spent the day working – tutoring other students immediately after class ended, and repairing harvesters until early evening. Most of these activities constituted her 'grounding-for-life,' as her mom still called it. Today the harvesters were especially cooperative, and she'd finished sooner than expected, although her little break to work on her own projects hadn't gone as planned. After learning about the airships she'd invented, not to mention the glider she wasn't supposed to have built, her mother was increasingly more adamant about Sinny not working on projects without her parents' approval – and preferably ones that didn't fly. That hadn't stopped Flik from taking her out one night to experiment with floating lanterns, of course.

Their harvesting done for the day, workers were milling around the anthill in the fading light – a few torches were lit, as though the workers expected to make a night of it, which was common this close to the rainy season. As it was, the rainy season seemed to be making a late appearance this year – a few workers were in conversation with Flik near the anthill, and Sinny overheard them discussing whether it was worth it to even continue harvesting, as it was too dry for the newly planted stalks to grow.

"Sinny, you're late," Lily said in a singsong voice as she appeared at her sister's side.

"She's right on time," Dot supplanted. The Blueberries looked at one another, acting very much like they were in on a secret. Lily stuck her thumb towards Atta, who even at a distance looked suspicious.

"I'm tired of being in trouble," said Sinny. "Lily, it's your turn to be in trouble."

"That would require actually being troublesome," Lily said, waving her finger in her sister's face.

"_Ha._ If only mom knew." Sinny snatched Lily's finger and was about to bite it when Dot cleared her throat. Both sisters looked up to find their mother had snuck up while they were unawares.

"The girls are behaving, I hope?" Atta squinted one eye at them, not bothering to hide her annoyance. Sinny and Lily had been getting the squinty one eye look from their mother since they returned from their escapades. "Where's Sinnia been? The workers lost track of her."

"That's my fault," said Dot, linking her arm with Sinny's. "I asked for her help with the Blueberries. Girls, what do you think about Princess Sinny helping us with the campout?" The reply was a chorus of, "Yeah!" with a few less enthusiastic mumblings. Sinny froze, horrified.

"Hm," said Atta. "Well, I guess that'd be okay. She's a little late, but she'll finally get her Blueberry experience." As Atta spoke, Sinny leaned to one side to look at Flik in the distance, pleading telepathically for him to come save her. Atta slowly shifted, placing herself back in Sinny's line of vision. "You'll be a good influence on these girls, I hope?"

"Aren't I always?" Sinny said, awkwardly.

"You can help them with their build-gliders-and-crash-them badge," said Lily. She began hovering in time to avoid getting her foot stepped on by Sinny. "Or the catch-lanterns-on-fire badge?"

"How about the light-your-sister-on-fire-while-she's-sleeping badge?" Sinny replied.

"Oo, I want that one!" Bramble said. A smaller Blueberry who resembled Bramble looked appalled.

"These two," Atta muttered, mostly to herself. "Lily, leave your sister alone. Sinnia, help your aunt get ready for this campout. And don't cause the Blueberries too much trouble."

"We'll make sure the Princess behaves," said the littlest Blueberry.

Sinny groaned and followed Dot back towards the anthill. She took the opportunity to stomp up to her father, who was currently looking out at the colony by himself.

"Dad, they're going to make me camp," Sinny said. "I don't know how to camp."

"Don't know how to camp?" said Flik. "Didn't you spend several nights in the woods by yourself?"

"Yeah, but that's not, you know, the same." She gestured to the Blueberries who were milling around not far off, and to Dot, who waved. "I have to sleep outside, with them."

"I see." Flik crossed his arms in front of his chest. "The 'ole camp fire, huh? Singing songs, roasting grain…"

"I'm not allowed near fire anymore," said Sinny, glumly. Admittedly, being around large flames still made her nervous.

"Alright, you'll be a ways back from the campfire, supervising." Flik gestured towards Dot. "I'm sure your aunt knows exactly what she's doing."

"But, I don't know anything about this Blueberry stuff," Sinny muttered. "Or, you know, kid stuff. Stuff normal kids do."

Flik gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I'm sorry you never got to do normal kid stuff when you were little, but, well… it, uh, couldn't be helped. You'll figure out how to be a Blueberry in no time. Right, Dot?"

"Is she stalling?" said Dot, approaching them. "Come on, Sin, it'll be fun! Flik, can she borrow your gear? We'll head out once she's ready."

"Right _now?_" said Sinny, appalled.

"When did you think?"

●•●

They made camp far enough into the clover stalks that the anthill was no longer visible, but still within the protective overhang of the tree. Each Blueberry was responsible for pitching her own tent – surprisingly, they all did so with swift accuracy. Then the girls persuaded Sinny to climb to the top of a clover with them, and as a telescope was passed around between them, Sinny told the girls about what she'd seen outside the island. They were particularly interested in what kind of giant creatures had tried to eat her, so she played up those encounters for their benefit. By the time they climbed back down the stalk, the girls seemed a bit more in awe of her, all of their saucy disdain vanished.

"You're quite a story teller," Dot told Sinny, feeding more kindling into their small campfire.

"Can I be an explorer like Princess Sinny when I grow up?" Bramble asked. "I bet I could go twice as far!"

"But what about the monsters?" asked the littlest Blueberry.

"If you hide, they won't notice you," said another. "You just have to be very, very quiet."

"Then Bramble won't make a good explorer," said the Blueberry who was possibly Bramble's sister. Sinny sat next to Dot as the girls bickered – the fire was small enough that she felt comfortable sitting before it. Dot took the piece of grain she'd been roasting off her twig, blew on it, and offered it to Sinny.

"You keep telling tall enough tales, the colony's going to start believing them," said Dot. "There are already exaggerated stories about your little adventure going around."

"As long as I'm the hero," Sinny said around a mouthful of grain. Dot rolled her eyes. She seemed about to say something else, but instead she stared behind Sinny for a moment. Sinny whipped her head around, her mind suddenly filled with her exaggerated monsters lurking in the dark. The shadow emerging from the forest eventually took the shape of Lily. "Oh," said Sinny. "It's you."

"Yes, it's me," said Lily, plopping herself down next to Sinny. She held out a canister. "Dad said you forgot this."

"Oh." Sinny took it. Unhelpfully, it was empty. "Thanks?"

"It's getting late, girls," Dot told the Blueberries as she stood up. "Better get in your tents for the night."

The girls moaned about it, but eventually they all disappeared into their respective pyramid shaped leaf flaps held up by sticks. A few girls snuck into each other's tents, thinking Dot wouldn't notice. The ones who'd brought their own small, phosphorescent mushrooms took them into their tents – this caused the interiors of the leafy structures to glow a blue-green, casting distorted shadows of the occupants.

"I'm going to keep watch until they've tired themselves out," said Dot. "You two staying out here for a bit?"

Sinny shrugged noncommittally.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you," Lily whispered to Sinny, although she didn't seem to mind Dot overhearing them.

"What did I do now?" said Sinny, but Lily shook her head.

"It's mom and dad," said Lily. "I overheard them talking. In the sitting room."

"And...?" Sinny prompted when Lily hesitated.

"I think they're… well, they sounded like they were getting back together."

Sinny choked on a stray grain fragment in her throat. "Don't even joke about that, Lily, I'm serious."

"I'm not joking." Lily put on her most sober expression. "Aunt Dot, do you know anything about this?"

Dot looked startled at being addressed. "I really shouldn't say."

"_What?_" Sinny almost forgot to keep her voice down. "You do know something!"

"Aunt Dot!" Lily said, and Dot put her hands up apologetically.

"Well, they didn't tell me exactly what was going on," said Dot. "They just, you know – after you two disappeared, I overheard them arguing. A lot. And then, one day… they weren't arguing. You two've been back for a few weeks, you didn't notice?"

Sinny and Lily froze in surprise.

"But, they seemed the same," said Lily. "Never really in the same place at the same time. Only talking when there was a reason to, or when there was an issue with us." She looked at Sinny for confirmation – Sinny took a moment to scour every last observation stored away in her mind. What had she missed? Not for the first time in her young life, Sinny had to admit to herself that she was incredibly self-centered.

"I don't…" Sinny began. "I don't know. Maybe they were acting that way for show? So we wouldn't think something was up?"

Dot shrugged. "Maybe I'm not the one you should be asking."

●•●

Wary of the outdoors after dark, Lily retreated back to the anthill for the night. Sinny slept on the ground, looking up at the canopy of clovers, and the stars beyond them. She mentally cursed Lily for giving her this information now instead of in the morning – she felt nauseous with the possibilities, most of all the possibility that Lily had gotten it wrong, or that it was an idea her parents were only discussing, with no plan to follow through. Why was this all so complicated?

She didn't feel quite here nor there in the morning, and she went through the motions of helping the Blueberries with breakfast and clean up without really paying attention. The girls didn't seem to notice either way, packing up their tents and heading back to the anthill ahead of their leader.

Lily was waiting for Sinny at the base of the anthill when they arrived. She motioned frantically for her sister to join her.

"They're talking," Lily whispered, as though they were still at the campsite. She pointed to Flik and Atta, who were in conversation near the offering stone. When Sinny shrugged, Lily huffed in agitation and took her sister's arm to pull her along with her. They approached their parents reverently.

"Oh, looks like the camper's back," said Atta, one hand on her hip. "Did the girls keep you up all night?"

"Not really," said Sinny, suddenly forgetting everything she was going to ask her parents. She looked at Lily, who frowned back questioningly.

"What's up, you two?" Flik asked when neither spoke.

"Can we ask you… something?" said Lily.

Just as Atta was answering, "Of course," Sinny blurted out: "Are you two getting back together?"

Flik and Atta exchanged a look, with just enough of an awkward pause that Sinny thought her heart was going to stop.

"Well, we haven't decided anything officially," said Atta. "But, your father and I have been discussing it for a while and… we're going to give us another try."

"Uh, yeah, it's in the works," said Flik, who suddenly looked as surprised by the idea as Sinny felt. The look softened after a moment as he put his thumb under his chin in consideration – from the way he looked at Atta, it seemed like his adoration had never waned. Maybe, Sinny thought, he'd only been waiting for Atta to change her mind after all these seasons.

"What happened?" Lily asked. "Why now?"

"We decided maybe our differences weren't really worth it," said Flik. "We both care a lot about you two, and this colony, and, uh, we could do a lot more good together than apart."

"And when were you planning on telling us?" said Sinny.

"We didn't want to say anything until we were absolutely sure," said Atta. "Although I should've guessed you two would rat us out before then."

"Can't get anything past these two," Flik said. His eyes suddenly widened. "Should we tell them the other good news?"

Sinny wondered if she could get away with bolting from the scene; she wasn't sure if she could handle any other news. "What sort of news. Wait, are you - oh no! No no no!"

Lily looked at her. "What?"

Atta laughed. "Maybe we shouldn't tell them. I don't think Sinny can handle much more."

Sinny hid behind her sister, hugging her from behind in desperation. "Mom's going to have a baby!"

"What? Really?" said Lily. "We're going to have a new sibling?"

"As soon as we were gone they tried to make new kids to replace us!" said Sinny.

Atta groaned. "No, that's not true." She shot a look at Flik, who was laughing at the idea.

"It does sound suspicious," Flik admitted.

"You're not even officially back together, yet!" said Sinny.

"These things happen," said Atta. "I don't have to explain how it works, do I?"

"No!" Sinny and Lily both replied.

"We shouldn't have asked!" said Sinny. "Why did we ask?" Now she really did try to bolt from the scene, but Lily grabbed her arm and then hovered, dangling Sinny in the air so she couldn't get away. Flik stepped forward to help Sinny back to the ground.

"What're you going to do to celebrate?" Lily asked.

"Oh, I don't think-" Atta began.

"Sinny and I will plan something," said Lily. She looked expectantly at her sister, who was still being held in Flik's arms, hugging his neck for fear of being made airborne against her will again.

"This close to the rainy season?" Sinny said. "I'm sure mom and dad have enough to do without more interruptions."

"_Sinny_," Lily shot at her. "It's not up for debate. We're celebrating."

"Whatever you kids want," said Flik, shrugging, although he looked pleased at the suggestion. Atta leaned over to kiss him, and Sinny squeezed her eyes shut.

"I'm gonna go tell Aunt Dot," Lily said, taking off from the scene. Sinny tumbled out of her father's arms and fled, calling after her sister.

Flik and Atta were left to themselves, too caught up in each other to notice.

●•●

Author's note: And that's it! Thanks to everyone who stuck around this long - I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As I mentioned last chapter, any news I have about the possible sequel in progress will be updated in my profile.


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